


For Your Safety

by CaptainLeviS14



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, Everyone Loves Hinata Shouyou, Gay, Healing, Hiding, Hinata Shoyo just wants to play Volleyball, Hurt Hinata Shouyou, Love, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Misunderstandings, Past Sexual Abuse, Protective Iwaizumi Hajime, Protective Oikawa Tooru, Supportive Aoba Johsai, Supportive Iwaizumi Hajime, Supportive Oikawa Tooru, Volleyball, protective Aoba Johsai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:46:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24225310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainLeviS14/pseuds/CaptainLeviS14
Summary: Hinata Shoyo is often described as a piece of the sun, yet he never lets anyone close enough to see that it has become a facade.In an instant, Shoyo and his family need to disappear, leaving behind his friends and teammates at Karasuno.Oikawa Toru is often described as having the perfect life, yet he has walls so high that it is a wonder Iwaizumi Hajime managed to get through them.One goal in his mind after their first encounter, he wants to convince Chibi-chan to play volleyball with him.-----Hey guys. I hope you enjoy this story.Story will contain:AbuseMental health issuesMuch gayness*Characters are not mine. Adapted from the anime Haikyu!!*
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Oikawa Tooru, Hinata Shouyou/Oikawa Tooru, Oihina
Comments: 124
Kudos: 413





	1. Chapter 1

(Hinata POV)

  
I glanced out the window of the car as mother pulled into the driveway. The sun was long gone, hidden by the horizon, the area being illuminated by the warm glow of the house’s exterior lights and a streetlamp that stood nearby. The house was small and run down with an overgrown garden creeping its way onto the surrounding concrete and fence. The white paint was peeling off the battered wood exterior after years of battling the weather. It looked out of place next to the well-kept houses that lined the rest of the street.

I hesitantly opened the door and felt the cool evening air envelop me. I shivered and tightened my Karasuno volleyball jacket around me as I exited the car. I regretted wearing my training uniform, but my mind wandered back to the memory of earlier that day of Mother picking me up early from volleyball practice. I turned back to the car and retrieved a sleeping Natsu from her seat next to where I was situated. She twitched slightly as I gently held her in my arms but didn’t wake up, nestling into the warmth my body provided her with.

Mother closed the door for me softly, having gotten out of the car quietly as well and led the way to the front door, opening it with the assistance of the new key that hung with the rest of her collection from her car keys. I took in my Mother’s appearance. Her hair was pulled back into an unruly bun in which stray strands flung from. Her usual gentle features looked jagged and her eyes were swollen and red. The pale skin that hugged her was paler than usual and the usual fire was gone. She had looked worse when she arrived to pick me up earlier that day. If anything, she was looking less frantic and more relaxed, yet my heart still ached at the sight of her, wishing I could help to bring back her spark.

We entered the house, and I was surprised as to how warm it was, unsure as to how such an old house was keeping the evening cool out. My eyes glanced around the house as I slipped off my outside shoes and shuffled my feet into the guest slippers that were placed out for me. Mother had done the same and dragged herself to the kitchen. I followed her, still gently carrying Natsu in my arms, taking in the familiar house.

The house was delicate on the inside, unlike it’s exterior. There was not a speck of dirt to be seen and nothing was out of its place. The lounge room housed a small couch and armchair situated around a small fireplace with a small television carefully tucked into the corner, still able to be seen easily from the seats. There was a small fire in the fireplace that helped to light the room and that gave the room its warmth. A small kitchen and dining room joined the lounge room, both as delicate and neat as the first.

Grandmother sat in the small dining room, reading a book when we entered. The book was quickly discarded when we came into view and her arms were quickly filled with Mother. Grandmother held Mother in her arms and stroked her head, cause strands to come free from her messy bun. Grandmother was short, much like the rest of us, with faded orange hair, having faded from age. It wasn’t hard to tell she was family.

Grandmother began whispering to Mother, and I saw her chest rise and fall in shudders. She had been holding in so much to protect Natsu and I from everything, and even now she tried shielding her tear-filled eyes from my view. It hurt to see her so broken, clinging to her own Mother just as Natsu would to her when she was hurt. I had an urge to wrap my arms around them both and cry, letting my emotions flow from me, but I knew I had to be strong. Grandfather was no longer around, so I was the only male in the house. I had to step up.

“Shoyo, dear, it’s getting late.” Grandmother said caringly, still cradling Mother in her arms. “Why don’t you set Natsu down in the spare bed and bring your luggage in for your Mother? I will pull out a blanket and pillows for you to set up the couch to sleep on.”

I nodded; my mouth unable to shape properly words and my voice box closing as I choked back my emotions. I swiftly exited the room and left the two of them to talk, reminding myself to stay strong. The house was quite small, and I made it to the spare room quickly, gently setting Natsu on the far side of the double bed that occupied majority of the room. I quickly kissed her cheek and left, closing the door slightly so that the bright light from outside the room no longer hit her face.

I reached the front door and opened it, feeling the cool once again begin to suck the warmth from my body. I opened the trunk of the car and looked down on the three small duffel bags. I slung one over my shoulder and picked the remaining two up with my right hand, shutting the trunk with my left. I easily carried the bags inside, placing them in the entranceway to avoid changing shoes before making a final trip to retrieve the small bags that were scattered through the car.

I bought the bags from the entranceway to the loungeroom and neatly stacked them by the television. Grandmother was now in the lounge room preparing the couch for me to sleep on. I glanced at the dining room and saw it was empty, guessing that Mother had opted to go to bed.

“That ought to do it.” Grandmother grunted to herself.

I was pulled into a hug, her arms wrapped tightly around my neck. I gave her a small squeeze before I pulled away, unsure as to how long I would be able to keep my façade up with the overwhelming love I felt emanating from her. Her hazel eyes locked onto mine as she seemingly read my mind, uncovering the pain and suffering that I hid from all those that surrounded me. She gave me a small, encouraging smile which I returned weakly before she made her way to her room and closed the door.

I was left alone with my thoughts as I turned the light off collapsed onto the couch, watching as the fire flickered lazily, causing the shadows and light to dance across the room. I was much too exhausted to dig through my bag in search of my night attire or toiletries. It didn’t take long before the lounge room faded as I fell into my slumber, unaware of the tears the steadily ran down my pale cheeks and dreading the dreams that were to come.

\-----

I woke in a cold sweat, heart beating fast. The room was now blackened, the fire having become a weakly lit ember. The dark silhouette that haunted my dreams seemed to be reaching for me from the shadows as I sat up and blindly reached for my phone that sat on the coffee table next to the couch. I clicked the on switch and grimaced at the brightness. _5:00am. I had a sleep in_. I scanned the room quickly, using the light from my phone to ensure myself that it was just a dream. I sighed as I checked my empty notification bar, dreading the moment when the messages would begin rolling in.

I walked over to the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. My eyes were sunken into my face, and my whole person lacked the vibrant light that it always seemed to emanate. I tore my eyes from the mirror, unable to stare at myself any longer. I made my way back to the couch and sat in the dark, waiting for the sun and the houses other occupants to rise.

\-----

It was 7:00am on the dot when the first message illuminated my screen. I brought the phone closer, reading the message carefully, feeling my heart sink lower and lower.

**From:** Kageyama  
Boke Hinata! You’re late! Hurry up and get here, we need to get to work perfecting our new attack and I can’t do that without you here to spike the ball!

I turned my phone off and pulled the blanket tighter around myself. _The less they know the safer they will be._

I was startled by the creaking of a door opened but relaxed back into the couch when I saw a sleepy Natsu stagger out of the spare bedroom, rubbing her eyes lazily with her fists and yawning loudly. She was quickly followed by Mother who guided her to the bathroom. Closing the door behind Natsu, Mother walked over to the kitchen and began pulling ingredients from their hiding spaces.

“Good morning Shoyo.” She acted cheerful, skilfully avoiding my gaze. “I am going to make some pancakes for breakfast, then we can begin unpacking.”

“Alright Mother.” I said as I made my way to the kitchen to help her.

Natsu joined us not long after I began cooking the batter, towing a half-asleep Grandmother behind her. I served up pancakes until Mother had eaten enough and tag teamed me so that I could eat. Natsu’s and Grandmother talked about everything that Natsu could think of as we ate. Mother and I remained silent, keeping our thoughts to ourselves, not wanting to disturb the happiness of Natsu with our worries and fears.

Grandmother played outside in the garden with Natsu as Mother and I cleaned up breakfast and began to unpack. I unloaded my belongings into the spare bedroom with Mother’s and Natsu’s belongings to keep the lounge room tidy. It was surprisingly easy to fit all our clothes into the wardrobe since we only packed the bare minimum with the short amount of time we had. I hooked the last of my clothes onto the hanger and placed it into the wardrobe. I peered over at Mother as she hung the last of the things from her bag up in the wardrobe as well.

She offered me a weak smile before she left me crouched in front of the wardrobe. My eyes were fixed on the final item she hung. It was a white blazer. I reached up and pressed the fabric to my fingers, understanding that this simple piece of clothing changes everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:
> 
> Hello everyone. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I didn't want to give too much of the plot away but I think this chapter sets things up nicely.
> 
> What do you think?
> 
> Don't worry. Our boy Oikawa will be here soon. Do you think he should wear his glasses whenever he isn't playing volleyball or not? Let me know.
> 
> Anyway, the next chapter shouldn't be too far away.
> 
> Piece v(￣ｰ￣)v


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously...
> 
> She offered me a weak smile before she left me crouched in front of the wardrobe. My eyes were fixed on the final item she hung. It was a white blazer. I reached up and pressed the fabric to my fingers, understanding that this simple piece of clothing changes everything.

(Hinata POV)

I stared at the white blazer hanging in front of me. It was the first day at my new school and I had managed to put on the rest of the attire with hardly any thought, yet the final touch, the blazer, seemed too much. It seemed like if I put it on it would confirm that it was all real. That if I put it on, I would no longer play for the same team as the Tiny Giant.

I closed my eyes tight in an attempt to shut my thoughts out, acknowledging that as much as I wished it wasn't, this is reality. Slipping one arm after the other into the blazer, I felt the fabric grip at my arms weakly. I slowly peeled my eyes open and stared at my reflection in the mirror, unsure how to react.

The uniform was by no means unflattering. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The neutral tan pants with dark brown outlining of a plaid pattern made the bright white blazer stand out. The light blue shirt complimented out from behind the blazer and the red tie completed the look, somewhat making my hair fit into the look. A small smile pulled at my lips as I admired how the uniform fit. It was a definite change from the black and white uniform at Karasuno, yet I longed to be back in that simple uniform.

The smile fell from my lips at that though as I slung my new, school warranted shoulder bag across my body and exited the room. Trying to avoid all human interaction, thinking I would get an overload of it already today, I tried tip toeing my escape from the house. I began to hopefully think that I had made it to the front door without being spotted when Mother called out to me.

"Shoyo, don't forget your lunch." She called out, dodging the bench with my bento in hand.

I sighed quietly to myself, ensuring that she couldn't see my face, before I turned and plastered the biggest smile I could fake across my face. I bowed my head as I took the bento from my Mother's hands, and hurriedly slipped the box into my bag.

"Also, Shoyo..." Mother spoke quietly before I could escape out the front door, reaching to clasp my left shoulder with her right hand. "I know that this has been hard on you dear but remember what we spoke about. It is for our safety. We can't chance anything right now."

Her voice trailed off, and I had to turn to face the door to hide the hurt in my eyes, hoping that she didn't see the slight falter in my smile. I knew the reasons yet found myself broken hearted, as if everything I loved in my life was no longer in my reach. I could only nod quickly before rushing out the door, unable to keep my façade up.

My eyes watered slightly, with a stray tear escaping my rapidly blinking eyes. With a ferocious rub of my eyes, I began the short walk to school. It was a lot shorter than my usual bike ride to and from Karasuno, only taking me ten minutes to complete the journey.

I was soon stood at the entrance to the school. Large buildings were sprouted everywhere, yet the extra space between them was filled with beautiful gardens. The breeze shook the trees and I watched as they seemingly swayed in slow motion, taking in the pure beauty of my new school.

Aobajohsai High.

\-----

I had decided earlier this morning to arrive somewhat early in order to speak to the principal, get my timetable and find my class. Considering how early it was, the buildings and surrounding grounds were bustling with life. There were so many people that my disoriented self ended up getting even more lost than usual in the sea of bodies of outrageously large high schoolers (why do they all have to be so tall?).

I finally found and awkwardly sat in the office, waiting for the principal to greet me with a copy of my timetable and point me in the direction of my class. I was getting plenty of stares from both students and teachers alike, which I am used to. Having my hair and being short as I am, I tend to draw a lot of attention to myself unintentionally, without even being the new kid on the block.

I heard the principal exit his office down the corridor from where I was sitting. He nonchalantly handed me my timetable, quickly spluttered the usual "If you need anything, you know where I am" before turning on his heel and departing, leaving me confused, disoriented and unsure which way to go. I watched as he retreated to his office before I proceeded to wander the halls, trying to desperately to find my class before it began, wishing I had have received a school map.

Miraculously, I found the classroom just as my first teacher of the day was about to enter. "Ah, you must be Hinata!" She greeted cheerfully, returning the bow I nervously gave her. "I am glad you found your way alright. If you just follow me to the front of the class, I'll introduce you and we will find you a seat."

I nodded, feeling the familiar unsettling feeling arise in my stomach. It reminded me of the feeling I get before I played a real game of volleyball. I had to force myself to not turn around and find the nearest restroom to throw up in. I reluctantly followed the teacher into the loud, restless room filled with loud, restless teenagers. My mind was racing, eyes scanning the crowd of faces turned to the front as the room settled. And sat in the middle of the audience of faces looking to the teacher, a familiar face stared only at me.

My ears didn't registered the teacher as she finished introducing me as a new transfer student, only being brought out of my staring contest with onion head after the third time she spoke my name. The class laughed quietly as I mumbled an apology and gave her a slight bow before turning to the rest of the class.

"My name is Hinata Shoyo. Please take care of me." I bowed at a formal ninety-degree angle to the class. I stood back up and proceeded to shuffle through the maze of desks and chairs, settling into the spare seat next to the window in the far back corner.

I avoided the occasional glance of onion head as I retrieved my notebook from my shoulder bag. I tried my best to pay attention to the first class of the day; Japanese. Yet the pace at which the content was taught caused me to fall behind quickly as I struggled to scribble as much information as possible into my notebook to review.

\-----

By the time lunch rolled around, my hand was cramped, and my brain was in overdrive. I had never paid so much attention in a class before, usually resorting to falling asleep due to the sweet exhaustion of volleyball training, or the not-so-sweet lack of sleep. The sheer amount of information the teachers worked hard to drill into my head was enough to last me ten day's worth of work at Karasuno.

I grabbed my bento and my phone before quickly sliding out of my chair and out the door. I held the on switch of my phone and watched the screen come to life as I aimlessly walked the grounds of Aobajohsai, having had turned my phone completely off to avoid the countless messages constantly blowing it up. After a few seconds of loading, the lock screen illuminated the device, showing a group photo of my first real team.

I stared at the photo, wishing I could time travel back to that moment and stay there forever, surrounded by my teammates. I already missed everything, from the constant bickering between Tsukishima and Kageyama, to the hopeless romantic attempts on Shimizu by Nishinoya and Tanaka. Everything that made us a family.

My thoughts were interrupted with the constant binging of notifications. Hundreds of messages poured into the notification bar, moving so rapidly I couldn't read any.

"Someone is popular." A quiet voice stated from in front of me, causing me to jump.

I stopped in my tracks, whipping my head up, unsure as to why my legs carried me outside to a hidden corner of the school, and unsure as to how I didn't notice the figure until now. Most likely both were due to my brain being preoccupied.

I recognised him from the Aobajohsai volleyball team. He had played in the first practice game, as well as being a starter in the most recent tournament. He had gone to Kageyama's middle school and was a first year, like me. I racked my brain for his name.

"Oh, hi Kunimi." I mumbled, praying I got his name correct. "I'm sorry I didn't see you there." I let out an awkward, fake laugh, cringing at how obviously fake it was and hoping the taller wouldn't question it.

"It's alright." He sighed, lazily drawing his dull brown eyes over me, as if studying every inch of my being. His expression remained blank, showing no sign of surprise at seeing me. He seemingly loomed over me, towering above me like most people even though he was resting on the wall of the nearby building.

"What are you doing here number 10?"

"Well, I was walking and trying to turn on my phone. I ended up here, but I don't know how. I do suck at multitasking so that's probably why. You know this one time I-"

"I don't mean here specifically." He huffed. "I mean at Aobajohsai."

"Well I had to transfer."

"Because...?"

"Because of personal reasons."

He gazed down at me in annoyance. I could feel his agitation oozing out of him and I cautiously took a step away. He rolled his eyes with a sigh and pushed off the wall and past me, quickly leaving me alone in the unfamiliar corner of the school. I stared after him, wondering what I had done to piss him off so much

\-----

The final bell rang through the schoolground. I proceeded to fill my school bag with the insane amount of homework I had received due to having a few days off to give the transfer paperwork time to be processed and falling behind on the fast-paced learning. I grunted as I realised that it wouldn't all fit, settling for carrying the remaining pile in my arms.

I struggled to the front gate of the school, almost dropping the stack of papers and books multiple times. I had almost made it when a chest appeared in front of me, causing me to bump into it and drop several sheets of homework.

"Chibi-chan!" The familiar voice giggled, bending to quickly pick up my scattered papers. "You really have outdone yourself with collecting homework. That pile is a walking hazard, you can't see where you are going."

I looked up at the chocolate-brown eyes that gleamed down at me. The figure wore the school volleyball training uniform with the familiar white and turquoise jacket thrown over the top. The jacket had a small white C in a turquoise circle on the left breast.

"G-grand King! I'm sorry Oikawa-san." I stuttered, awkwardly staring at the older as he held out the papers I had dropped. I hesitantly grabbed them and placed them atop of the pile, shifting it slightly in an effort to become more comfortable.

"That's quite alright Chibi-chan." He smiled, waving my apology off as if I had nothing to apologise for. "I was actually looking for you."

"How did you even know I was here?" I was confused. I had thought I had kept quite a low profile, but the Great King had found out I was here on the first day. I was hoping to avoid his confrontation a while longer.

"Kindaichi-chan came to find me at lunch to tell me you were here, and not long after Kunimi-chan confirmed your presence. I am kind of heart broken that you didn't come to see me to see me to find out when you could join. I would've thought that would be the first thing you'd have done today."

"Join what Oikawa-san?"

"The volleyball team of course!" He rolled his eyes and pulled a weird face as if I was meant to be able to make sense of his ramblings. "So, when are you joining us Chibi-chan?"

I tore my eyes from his, letting my fringe hide the wide array of emotions that glistened across my eyes.

"I'm not."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Hey guys. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. 
> 
> How are you enjoying the story so far?
> 
> I am hoping to be able to keep updating at this rate, but we shall see since I have exams and assessments coming up. I will try my best.
> 
> Piece v(￣ｰ￣)v


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I tore my eyes from his, letting my fringe hide the wide array of emotions that glistened across my eyes.
> 
> "I'm not."

(Oikawa POV)

I looked down at the boyish face of the younger which was now covered by his bright orange hair. A frown covered my face as I studied the boy in front of me just as I would study my teammates before a volleyball game to see where their heads are at and decide how best to toss them the ball. I had only met Hinata a few times, and from across the court no less, yet I noticed how much smaller he seemed. He looked sickly thin, with the usual warmth and brightness he possessed reduced to a mere fizzle.

"You don't want to play volleyball with us?" I questioned, trying to hide the fact that I was studying him. "Is it because we aren't Karasuno?"

He said nothing, remaining still as a statue and staring to the ground unamused by my attempt at banter. We stood in the awkward silence for a few seconds, the light wind and swaying of the trees being the only sounds able to be heard. I broke the silence with a sigh, resting a hand on his bony shoulder, cursing Karasuno silently for letting their teammate become this hollowed husk of a human. Granted, the differences I noticed may have seemed more drastic due to me not being close to him, a pile of minute changes that were gradual enough to go unnoticed by those around him.

"I get that it may be weird for you to play volleyball for one of your old team's biggest enemies, but you have talent. It would be a shame for you to stop playing just because you transferred schools." I looked up from the small boy's face, turning in the direction of the gym as I heard Iwaizumi call my name and beckon for me to wrap up the conversation. "Just think about it alright Chibi-chan?"

I looked back down at the younger boy, unsure of what else to say to convince him to join. His eyes stayed glued to the ground as he shrugged my hand from his shoulder and skirted around me. I pouted as I watched his figure pull further away from me, knowing that he most likely will ignore everything I had said.

I began my own journey to the gym, a few metres from where I was previously standing, frustrated at the thought of Hinata not playing volleyball. My mind wandered to the first time I had watched Hinata play, at the very first practice match we had with Karasuno. He had improved since then, yet if I could just convince him to join the team he would be able to improve tenfold.

I was lost in thought as to how I could convince him to play without forcing him, only coming back to reality with Iwaizumi's killer smack to the back of my head.

"Iwa-chan! Mean!" I cried out, sarcastically pouting as I rubbed the back of my head.

"Get your head out of the clouds Oikawa." He grumbled, grabbing the front of my training shirt and proceeding to drag me into the gym. "You need to concentrate and warm up properly, so you don't injure yourself again. We can't afford to not have you at practice."

He was right of course. The bright white knee brace I sported only did so much to stop the pre-existing injury from reoccurring. I needed to be careful, especially if I wanted to continue playing volleyball. Yet I couldn't help letting my mind trail off the ponder the words Hinata had spoken so brokenly. Not even the threat of benching me for getting distracted could cause me to concentrate on anything but the little Shrimp.

\-----

_(During the lunch break earlier that day)_

_I sat with the second years and other third years of the volleyball team, happily laughing along with the team as they joked about the latest practice match we had endured and enjoying some milk bread. Iwaizumi sat by me, watching the chaos envelope around the table, only bothering to scold me out of everyone, since I 'should know better' than to be rude to teams that took the time to play volleyball with us. I pulled at my eyelid and stuck my tongue out as a sign of resistance to his unfair favouritism to everyone that isn't me._

_The joking was quickly cut off by an unusually quiet Kindaichi joining the table. He sat across from me and appeared deep in thought. I watched him intently, seeing how his eyebrows furrowed on his brow and eyes slanted down at an angle, unintentionally ignoring the greetings from his teammates._

_"Earth to Kin-chan!" I sung sweetly, ripping off some of my precious milk bread to throw at him, earning me a slap to the back of the head from Iwaizumi. "What is swimming around in that small brain of yours? Are you thinking about how you will never be as gorgeous or as talented as me?"_

_"Oikawa, don't be rude to the underclassmen." Iwaizumi sighed, sounding exasperated._

_"Karasuno's carrot top showed up in my class this morning." Kindaichi stated, looking up at Iwaizumi and I with a troubled look. "I hesitated when I had the chance to talk to him, but he had left by the time I figured out what to say."_

_I froze, a piece of milk bread half-way to my mouth. It took a moment for the information to properly be digested through my brain. Karasuno's little number 10? "Little Chibi-chan? What is he doing in your class?"_

_"He transferred from Karasuno. I don't know why."_

_"We should see if he is going to join the team!" Exclaimed Watari, practically jumping out of his seat with excitement of having such a raw talent to add to the team, and I couldn't blame him. "I'm sure Coach Irihata would let him join in a heartbeat. We could get him enrolled in the club and we could use him against Shiratorizawa!"_

_The table began to buzz in excitement at the thought of beating Shiratorizawa. I grew in excitement as well, imaging the look on Ushijima's face when he loses to us thanks to the tiny middle blocker, only to be brought back to my neutral state after glancing at Iwaizumi's hard gaze._

_"No." The single word caused the whole table to freeze. "If we all swoop him to get him to play then he will get overwhelmed. You have all seen how easily flustered and frightened he can get. I suggest that one of us approaches him to see where his head is at in terms of joining the team."_

_All eyes turned to me. I smirked, thinking this mission was going to be a piece of cake._

_"Joys of being the captain. I'll catch him before practice after school."_

\-----

"He didn't want to play Iwa-chan." I complained, mindlessly pushing Iwaizumi into his cool down stretch, unaware of the grunts that sprung from his throat in an effort to tell me to back off a bit. "You should've seen the way he looked when I brought it up. He looked so sad. And he is so much smaller than he used to be. He looked like a slight gust of wind could knock him over."

"Yeah, I saw." Iwaizumi sighed, pulling out of his stretch and standing up. "You can't force him to play Oikawa. It is his decision after all."

We began to walk to the club room to get changed out of our training clothes before we head home. I couldn't help but admire the maturity of my best friend. He was a few centimetres shorter than me, yet that didn't affect the aura that surrounded him that screamed maturity. I found myself wondering how I ended up captain with such competition.

"I know Iwa-chan, but he has so much potential. He didn't even give it a second thought." I paused for a moment. "What if those Karasuno jerks did something terrible to him and now he is too afraid to play because he thinks we will treat him like that?"

"Short-stuff probably has quite a good reason for not wanting to play Trashykawa, and it is none of our business unless he wants it to be, which he obviously doesn't since he didn't tell you."

"No need to be such a negative Nelly Iwa-chan! He didn't tell me because I am practically a stranger to him. I don't plan on giving up on getting him on the team. I just need to come up with a plan to get him to realise what he is missing out on."

We reached the club room and Iwaizumi sighed at me before walking over to his locker and beginning to change. I began changing, thinking up a storm as I did. Once I was in my sweats, I walked over to the basin and washed my hands before removing my contacts. I replaced them in their container and perched my glasses on my nose, blinking a few times to allow my eyes adjust to their freedom from the contacts, not that I could feel them.

Iwaizumi waited as I collected my things, watching as I packed my bag with my mind flickered through plans. If I could get close to him, get him to trust me, then he would maybe tell me why he doesn't want to play anymore. Gain his trust and slowly chip away at the walls he has built around himself. I quickly walked out the door, a plan already forming as I walked side by side with Iwaizumi to his house.

"We just need to get him to remember how much he loves volleyball!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Wow! The views on this story are growing and I honestly am so pumped by that! That's so crazy! Thank you all for taking the time to read this. I hope you are enjoying it so far.
> 
> I wanted to start asking random questions to get to know my peeps better, so if you want to answer just post a comment but don't feel pressured to. I just thought it might be fun!
> 
> Question of the chapter:
> 
> Who is your favourite character and why?
> 
> My favourite character is probably Tsukki because his whole aesthetic is just amazing. His character arc is also really interesting. Not gonna lie, I wish I was as good at thinking on the spot as he is. It is a true talent to think of a come back to everything that is said to you. (I'm going to stop now before I ramble too much and bore you all).
> 
> Next chapter is under construction as we speak. It should be out soon(ish).
> 
> Piece v(￣ｰ￣)v


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iwaizumi waited as I collected my things, watching as I packed my bag with my mind flickered through plans. If I could get close to him, get him to trust me, then he would maybe tell me why he doesn't want to play anymore. Gain his trust and slowly chip away at the walls he has built around himself. I quickly walked out the door, a plan already forming as I walked side by side with Iwaizumi to his house.
> 
> "We just need to get him to remember how much he loves volleyball!"

(Hinata POV)

The loud piercing sound of the lunch bell rang echoed in the classroom. I jumped, pulled violently from my thoughts by the sound. I had struggled to concentrate all day, my body itching for some exercise and my mind repeating the conversation with Oikawa. I was worried that I had subconsciously allowed some private information to slip out, constantly sifting through the conversation in a search for the mistake.

I got up from my desk, leaving my bento in my bag as I had done yesterday, and began walking out of the room to aimlessly roam the school to try to give my body some satisfaction of movement. I had almost made it to the door when a hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder, halting my movements. My whole body went stiff, scenes I wish I could leave in my past resurfacing to the forefront of my mind. Acting on instinct, my body whipped around, arm knocking the hand from my shoulder and legs scrambling backwards to escape the situation. My eyes glanced up at the figure, their face morphing as if reality had turned into a bad dream.

"Hinata?" A voice called, snapping reality back into focus.

"Onion head!" I gasped, trying my best to act as though my reaction was caused by his sudden movements and not by the memories that were resurfaced by his touch. "You scared me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck and bowing his head slightly in an apology. "I was just wondering if you wanted to join me for the lunch break?"

I plastered a smile across my face, reminding myself that I needed to keep up my façade so that I no one else got involved in the mess I had caused for my family. "I'm sorry, I was going to acquaint myself with the school some more. Thank you for the offer though."

Kindaichi looked down at me, confusion covering his face. "Well I haven't seen you acquaint yourself with the cafeteria so you can explore there with me today."

He nodded shortly before dragging me out of the classroom, ignoring my attempts to escape the situation, and began walking in the direction of the cafeteria. The room was larger than I had expected, being able to easily fit two of Grandmother's house inside with room to spare. It was quite full of hungry students gobbling up their lunch in a hurry.

I nervously stuck to Kindaichi's side, him having dropped my arm as we entered the room, not wanting to get lost as he easily weaved through the maze of tables, chairs and people. It must be nice to always be able to see where you are meant to be going, being tall and all. I, on the other hand, struggled to see over the shortest of Aobajohsai's students.

We had made it to about the middle of the room and just as I began thinking about escaping a large group of strangers cut between Kindaichi and I, causing me to lose sight of the middle blocker. I looked around, not recognising any of the faces around me. I received a few odd glances as I began to panic slightly. I didn't want to be surrounded by people, especially people as tall as those in this crowd. They reminded me of volleyball, where pretty much everyone was a tree. I tried backing away but ran into a large, muscular chest.

"Wow Carrot-Top. You need to watch where you are going." A semi-familiar voice mused.

I whipped around to face the chest of Seijoh's ace. I bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry Iwaizumi-san! I didn't know where I was meant to be going. I was following Kindaichi, but I lost sight of him and I don't know where he went. He invited me to have lunch with him and dragged me here even though I said I wanted to explore the school some more by myself."

"Kindaichi-san asked you to have lunch with him?" Iwaizumi clarified, unsure that he had heard right. His face held a puzzled look as if asking me to lunch was out of character for the first year. "If I had to guess where he would be, he would be with the team."

"Oh, I see. I didn't mean to intrude. I'll just go elsewhere."

"Don't be silly Chibi, you can come and sit with us. We would love to have you."

Before I could protest, Iwaizumi began to gently drag me through the crowd towards the back corner of the cafeteria. Despite being much more muscular than Kindaichi, Iwaizumi was much gentler and moved much smoother. His hands we calloused, yet they held my wrist so gently that I could've been fooled into thinking his hands were soft and smooth. He was sure to move slow enough that my little legs could keep up without having to jog. He was the opposite of what I had expected, although I had only really seen him when he was on the court and concentrating on volleyball.

We broke through the crowd and I saw Kindaichi talking to Oikawa. Oikawa ran his hand through his hair, drawing some murmuring from the girls who sat nearby. I looked around at the crowd and noticed that those closest to the volleyball team seemed to be girls, presumably Oikawa's fans. They weren't even being discreet in admiring the team, namely Oikawa.

Iwaizumi still held my wrist as we approached the table, somewhat tighter than when he was guiding me through the crowd, seeming to be afraid that I would run away at the sight of the team. I let my eyes trail up his arm, admiring the Ace up close. He reminded me of Asahi; hard looking on the outside but one of the kindest people with a sweet hear on the inside. My face began to flush as I realised his bicep was bigger than both of mine combined. There was a reason why he was the ace.

"Kindaichi." Barked Iwaizumi, yanking me from my thoughts. Perhaps he isn't soft and sweet to everyone. "Next time you invite someone to lunch, make sure you actually take them with you. Especially when they are short and unable to see over anyone."

Iwaizumi pulled me from behind him and held my arm up, almost lifting me entirely off the floor. Even now his grasp wasn't tight enough to cause any harm to me, and I couldn't help but admire how strong he was. I concluded that he could easily pick me up with one hand. Just that thought made me feel flushed and embarrassed.

"Chibi-chan!" Oikawa exclaimed, his serious face quickly shifting into a happy one. He ruffled my hair cheerfully as Iwaizumi let me go.

"Hinata. I'm sorry I lost you back there. I looked back and you had disappeared." Kindaichi tried explaining before Iwaizumi slapped him in the back of the head harshly.

"Oh, it's alright. Don't worry about it. I'm just thankful I bumped into Iwaizumi-san."

They led me to the table, and I greeted the rest of the team with a bow. I glanced around the table as I stood upright. "Where's Kunimi-san?" I whispered to Kindaichi, as we sat down, him taking the seat to my right. Iwaizumi-san took the seat to my left and Oikawa sat on the other side facing us.

"Akira-san isn't really a people person Hinata-kun. He finds it hard to have the energy to deal with people all day, so he spends time alone during the breaks so that he isn't on low battery by the time volleyball practice starts."

"That makes sense I guess." I didn't really understand, but it didn't matter. As long as I wasn't the reason. I would hate to be the divider in the team, even if they are one of Karasuno's biggest rivals.

"Speaking of practice!" Oikawa said excitedly. "We have practice tonight, and we will be playing a practice game amongst us. You should totally come Chibi-chan."

"I told you yesterday, Oikawa-san, I don't play any-"

"I think what he meant Hinata-kun," Iwaizumi cut in, staring at Oikawa intensely before turning to me, shooting a friendly smile in my direction. "is that our usual head umpire isn't able to make it tonight. It is hard to find people who know the rules to umpire the matches, and we don't want any players to miss out on an opportunity to practice. Coach Irihata doesn't like umpiring either because he wants to watch the game and hive us corrections."

I thought for a moment. My memory of Mother's words flashed before my eyes.

_"I know how much you love playing volleyball sweetie." Her tone was sad. "We just can't risk it. He knows your love for the game, and if he tries finding you at a game, then all of this hard work we have put in to get away from him will go down the drain. It's for your safety. And Natsu's too. Think about the danger you could put her in."_

"I'm sorry Iwaizumi-san, but I am not interested in volleyball anymore." I said, trying to mask my sadness.

"I understand Hinata-kun." He said, looking sad. "It's just, we would really appreciate your help. Just for tonight?"

I hesitated, looking over to Oikawa who was clutching his leg and glaring at Iwaizumi for some reason. Kindaichi was looking at me expectantly. I thought about all that had happened over the past few weeks, how volleyball had been one of the only things going for me.

"Alright, I will umpire for you. Just this once." I finally stated, sending a big smile back to Iwaizumi. I would still be keeping my promise of not playing volleyball, but that doesn't mean I can't be a part of it still right?

Oikawa cheered, drawing the attention of almost the whole cafeteria. The other team members glanced in Oikawa's direction and sighed, seeming to be used to his random outburst for no apparent reason. Iwaizumi kicked Oikawa under the table, and I couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"Ow!" Shrieked Oikawa. "Iwa-chan! Stop kicking me!"

The team laughed at Oikawa's pouting before they pulled out some food to begin eating. Iwaizumi looked over at me, noticing I had no food. I looked away, dreading a confrontation. Only the confrontation never came. I looked back over at Iwaizumi, but he was talking with Oikawa about aliens and how stupid Oikawa was to believe in aliens.

My eyes shifted their gaze downward and I noticed some apple slices sitting in front of me atop a bento lid. I gazed at Iwaizumi expectedly, only earning a small glance and nod towards the apple pieces before he continued talking to Oikawa.

I sighed and began to slowly eat the apple, reminding myself that I have a façade to keep up. I had to convince everyone I was fine. Yet I couldn't help but feel out of place and alone amongst the Aobajohsai team. I longed to be back at Karasuno; back with my team; back to a simpler life.

\-----

The homework that I had brought with me to do while the team practiced before they played their match did not hold my attention for very long. It sat on my lap, only having my name added to the first sheet before my eyes took in the beautiful sight of volleyball practice. Although it had only been a few weeks since I had last practiced with a team, the excitement of seeing the action up close was just as exhilarating as when I had seen the Tiny Giant play at nationals.

It relit my passion for volleyball, making it extremely difficult to not join in. It was so close that I could grab it if I wanted. All I had to do was-

"Chibi-chan!" Oikawa called out. "We are just about to start the game. Are you ready?"

"Hai." I squeaked back, ducking my head in embarrassment and quickly running over to the umpire stand that was situated beside the net. I had never seen the court from this view before. It wasn't nearly as good as the view on the court though, in the action.

I watched the teams take their positions. Iwaizumi and Oikawa had chosen their teams at random. I didn't know anyone else really, aside from Kindaichi and Kunimi, who were both of Oikawa's team. I looked over the teams one more time, a feeling off uneasiness settling into me as my eyes locked onto a pair of intense eyes from Iwaizumi's team. I had never seen him before, but he looked quite scary, however I reminded myself to not judge someone before I got to know them.

I motioned for Oikawa to serve. He began his approach for his jump serve, only everything seemed faster and more intense than I remembered. I watched the ball fly across the court with such speed, however it landed well out of bounds.

\-----

The game was going well. Both teams seemed to be even, however, it seemed like Oikawa gave his team a slight advantage with him being able to analyse the court more effectively than the setter on Iwaizumi's team. I mean, there was a reason he was their official setter.

I admired his skill from afar, unintentionally becoming distracted from the game. I watched the way he moved; the way his muscular legs carried him quickly to under the ball and pushing the ball exactly where he wanted with his slender but toned arms. I watched his eyes, intense with concentration, and noticed how he seemed to smile fiercely when he was frustrated.

Oikawa had sent the ball to Kindaichi who spiked the ball over. Unfortunately for them, it fell straight into the arms of the teams Libero who dug it up easily. The ball flew over to the setter who sent the ball to Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi began his approach.

I was too busy focusing on Iwaizumi that I never saw the scary looking player leap at the ball and proceed to smash the ball with an awful amount of force. Fortunately for Oikawa's team, Kunimi had seen the unknown spiker coming and jumped up to block him. Unfortunately for me, the ball ricocheted off Kunimi's block and hit me square in the face.

The sheer force of the ball, and the surprise of the ball coming for me, pushed me off balance and caused me to fall backwards. Now I had been hit in the face by a ball more times than I care to admit, but it causing me to fall backwards off an umpire stand was a first.

Pain shot through the back of my head as my head collided with the hard gym floor. I winced, sitting up and rubbing the back of my head. I looked around, my vision blurry and patchy, before I lowered myself down again to clear my vision from the black dots.

My vision began to clear. I didn't know if I had been unconscious at all, but I could here rustling, sneakers and the sounds of panic voices mushing together. I tested the waters again and tried sitting up. I felt a hand hold my back, giving me both comfort and support. I turned my head to see that the hand's owner was Oikawa.

"Jeez Chibi-chan." He let out, sounding somewhat relieved. "You are really good at receiving with your face, even when you aren't playing."

"I think that will mark the end of the night. Make sure you stretch before you go home." The coach said, before bending down to examine my head and reflexes.

Oikawa was dragged by Iwaizumi to do their cool down stretches while I was getting looked at. It didn't take long for the coach to give me the all clear, once my bleeding nose had ceased, and for the team to finish their stretching.

"You seem to be alright Carrot-top, but I am hesitant to let you walk home alone. Oikawa! Iwaizumi! Make sure your Kouhai gets home safely."

Before I could protest, I was being brought to my feet by Iwaizumi who pulled me onto his back whilst Oikawa gathered my homework and bag. I unwillingly gave them the address of my Grandmothers house before they left, having uttered goodbyes to the team. They didn't even bother changing out of their training clothes.

Before I knew it, I was being shook awake by Oikawa. I hadn't even realised I had fallen asleep against Iwaizumi's strong back. A blush dusted my cheeks as I carefully slid off his back and knocked on the door.

"Thank you for seeing me home Iwaizumi-san and Oikawa-san." I said, bowing, ignoring the ache in the back of my head that sort to bring me to the floor.

"That's alright Hinata-san." Iwaizumi said softly. "Get some rest. We are truly sorry about you getting injured."

"Oh, don't even worry about that! I get hit in the face all the time."

"As long as you are okay. Take care Chibi-chan. We will see you again tomorrow."

I waved them off just as Grandmother answered the door. I silently entered the house, toed off my shoes and laid down on the couch, curling into a ball and willing the pain in my head that I hid to go away. Grandmother came to sit next to where I lay.

"What happened Sho-kun?" She sweetly asked, gently running her hand through my hair.

"Don't worry Grandmother." I assured her. "I was just helping out the volleyball team and got hit. I am alright now, but I would like to sleep if that's alright."

She merely nodded, leaving my side and retreating to the kitchen to continue playing with Natsu. I silently thanked Grandmother for being understanding and not prying any further. Thankfully Mother had been working tonight, so I didn't have to bear the criticising eyes as I fell asleep. Sleep came easily, despite the ache thumping in the back of my head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Hey guys! I am sorry about the slow update. I had a bit of trouble with this chapter, but I hope you like it.
> 
> Question of the chapter:
> 
> Who is your Haikyu!! OTP?
> 
> Contrary to what I am writing, my OTP is Bokuto and Akaashi. Like just the way they say each other's names, it's just so cuuuute. I mean I doubt I need to explain myself.
> 
> New chapter will hopefully be out soon.
> 
> Also, if you notice something like my Japanese honorifics are wrong (I am not an expert in that kind of stuff) please let me know and I will look into it.
> 
> Piece v(￣ｰ￣)v


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She merely nodded, leaving my side and retreating to the kitchen to continue playing with Natsu. I silently thanked Grandmother for being understanding and not prying any further. Thankfully Mother had been working tonight, so I didn’t have to bear the criticising eyes as I fell asleep. Sleep came easily, despite the ache thumping in the back of my head.

(Hinata POV)

I could feel the throbbing emanating from the back of my head, piercing through my brain and to the front of my forehead, just between my eyebrows. I groaned quietly and peeled my eyes open, pushing myself up to a sitting position and wiping a stray sliver of drool that had escaped my unconscious mouth. The room was quite dark, meaning it was probably still the early hours of the morning, with only a small amount of light from the streetlight situated outside the house peeking through the curtains that attempted to cover the windows, illuminating the room enough to somewhat see.

I retrieved my phone from my pocket, unimpressed with myself for sleeping in my school uniform, covering my eyes slightly as I turned it on as to lessen the pain that the sudden bright light would bring my already pained head. Ignoring the overwhelming number of messages that filled the screen, I took note of the time. It read 3:53am, about the usual time for me to awaken. I rubbed a hand down my face and wiped the sleep from my eyes, assuming that I would not be able to successfully return to my previously sleeping state. Not that I wanted to, no matter how tired I was.

Sitting quietly in the dark, I let my mind wander. Having seen the copious number of messages that occupied my phone, my mind instantly wondered about how Karasuno was handling my sudden disappearance. Would they even care that I was gone? I clicked my tongue in annoyance at myself for even thinking such a thing. Of course they would be missing me… I hope.

I missed them. I missed Daichi’s strong leadership; I missed Suga’s caring persona; I missed Asahi’s kindness; I missed Nishinoya and Tanaka’s banter and shenanigans; I missed Ennoshita’s attempts to control Nishinoya and Tanaka; I missed Kinoshita and Nariata’s support; I missed Yamaguchi’s determination; I missed Tsukishima’s antagonistic nature; I missed Kageyama’s tosses. I missed every part of my team.

_I missed being a crow._

At that thought, I felt a large drop fall from my eye, leaving a trail behind on my cheek as the guilt of abandoning my first real team. They had taken me under their wing, and I had left them without so much as an explanation. Hurriedly I swiped the tear away. Yet more and more followed suit, leaving my face and pillow damp as I hugged it close to me, stuffing my face into the soft fabric, wishing that I could wake up and it all be a dream.

\-----

I opened my heavy eyes to the sound gentle clattering in the kitchen, unaware that I had cried myself back to sleep. I peeled my sticky face from my pillow which was stuck to the dried tears on my cheeks. Ducking my head to hide my tear stained face from my family, I quickly scurried to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I looked in the mirror and let out a small chuckle at the sight of the fist sized, purple and green bruise that occupied the space between my eyebrows, mentally preparing for more stares than usual.

I quickly undressed, grimacing at the sight of my own body. Much like my forehead, my body was littered with bruises. Although, unlike my forehead, most of the marks covering my body weren’t from volleyball and were much more horrifically covered. My fingers traced over them gently, drawing the memory of each mark up through my fingertips as they grazed each mark. I looked away from the mirror and quickly stepped into the shower, rushing to wash myself so that I could cover my disgusting body. Once I was finished, I dried myself and dressed in a fresh uniform that Mother had hung in the bathroom for me earlier before exiting the bathroom.

I entered the dining room, finding Natsu sat at the table, happily munching on some rice and Meso soup. I gave her a small smile as she tried greeting me with her mouth full, causing some rice to fall out of her tiny mouth. Her chaotic energy caused my heart to sing with joy; the image of her being happy and carefree having a relaxing affect on me. I turned to the kitchen, my mood uplifted, in order to get some breakfast for myself.

“Shoyo.” Greeted Mother as she turned to face me, having heard the light footsteps I produced. “Help yourself to- What happened to your face?”

“Good morning Mother.” I greeted, turning from her to retrieve a small portion of rice to satisfy my stomach until dinner. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry yourself.”

“Shoyo, you tell me what happened right now.” Mother spoke, seriousness lacing through her words, causing a shiver to run down my spine. Although I was not looking at her, I could feel her eyes starring into the back of my head, thankful that my hair covered the undeniably worse bruise located there. “Did someone hurt you? You can talk to me you know?”

“No! Nothing like that Mother.” I chuckled lightly, trying to ease the tension that surrounded me. “I was actually just helping the volleyball team and got hit in the face by a stray ball. It looks worse than it is, really!”

“Shoyo.”

I froze, my previously giddy mood disappearing in an instant. Her tone was somehow more serious than when she seemed just worried about my well-being. I turned to face her slowly, struggling to meet her eyes with my own. I could tell she was pissed. I could see the anger that caused her eyes to become hard and soulless. I had seen that look so many times before, yet I never thought that I would see it perched upon my Mother’s face.

My face was turned to the side violently, causing me to stumble as my hand reached up instinctively to hold the now stinging cheek. A fierce tug at the back of my head caused me to stand up straight from my curled over position. Another slap across the face followed quickly after I was up straight again, repeating again and again and again, hitting the same spot on the same cheek hit after hit. Although I have felt much worse pain, each slap that my Mother places upon my face causes my heart to tear ever-so-slightly. I could not hear the angry mumbling that sprung from my Mother’s mouth, them being drowned out by the excessive slapping and screaming thoughts running through my mind. She no longer looked like my Mother; her face had morphed, twisting into a mixture between her and the monster from my nightmares.

A final grand slap caused me to crumble to the floor. _You deserve it_. She was one of the only people left who cared for me. _You put them in danger_. I could see her looking down on me, her face still constantly shifting. _You can’t do anything right_.

I quickly retreated from the kitchen. “Natsu, get your bag for school. I am going to drop you off on my way to school, alright?” I forced a big smile down to the little one, her eyes glancing to me before running off to do as she was told. _She is already so afraid_. _She can’t know_. My hand reached up to cradle my cheek, a single tear sliding between my fingers as I hurriedly packed my schoolbag and exited the house, waiting for Natsu at the end of the driveway to put as much distance I could between Mother and myself. I knew that was the best way to ensure Natsu doesn’t get hurt, knowing she adored the little girl too much to purposefully lay a harmful finger on her.

\-----

The staring had begun; I had barely stepped inside the gates of Aobajohsai when I could feel the eyes and hear the whispers about me. Thankfully, the bright bruise that raged on my forehead distracted everyone from the faint red, hand print that glowed on my cheek. I managed to make it to class with the no confrontation about my appearance.

Classes dragged on, my focus constantly wandering from the classes content as I stared out the window, knowing full well that I needed to pay attention if I wanted to pass the class. But my mind kept replaying the events of the morning, reminding me of the pain I had caused myself. My thoughts kept whispering awful nothings in my ear, blocking the sounds of the classroom out, making it impossible to pay attention anyway.

Not even the lunch bell could draw my attention from the growing voice in me head. _You deserve it. You put them in danger. You can’t do anything right. No one can know. No one can know. No one can-_

“Hinata-san?” A shaking of my shoulder snapped me out of my trance. I flinched under the touch, standing up quickly and backing away before I even knew what was happening.

“Would you like to join us for lunch again?” Kindaichi asked, seemingly ignorant to the panic his touch had caused me. He seemed bored and uninterested in conversing with me, almost as if he was being forced to talk to me. After noticing my confused face, he added “Apparently Kyotani-san wants to apologize for causing the ball to hit you in the face yesterday, although between you and I Iwaizumi-san is probably forcing him to.” There was a slight pause before he mumbled “Much like Oikawa is to me” under his breath, assuming I wouldn’t be able to hear him.

I thought for a moment. Why would Oikawa ask Kindaichi to invite me to lunch again? Did he ask him to last time as well? That would explain why he looked so annoyed when Kindaichi didn’t have me with him last time. But why did he want me to eat with them? It is not common for third years to talk to random first years that weren’t in their after-school club, much less the hotshots from the Aobajohsai volleyball club.

I felt my face harden and heart sink in realisation. They had a plan, to coerce me into the volleyball club. They didn’t want to befriend me just to enjoy my company. They didn’t really need me to umpire for them yesterday. The back of my head ached slightly at the memory of the injury they had caused me, the pain shortly after travelling to my pained cheek. It could have been prevented. You are an idiot.

“You tell Oikawa that he needs to take my no as a no!” I snapped, glaring at a now confused and slightly frightened Kindaichi, who began to back away as I stepped towards him threateningly. I pushed roughly past Kindaichi, snarling as I exited the room quickly, weaving through the trickle of students that wandered the halls to cause the taller lose sight of me, blocking out his desperate attempts to get me to come back.

I quickly made it out of the building, letting my legs carry me to wherever they dared. I still didn’t know my way around the beautiful school all too well, only knowing enough to get to each of my classroom. Yet I wasn’t surprised when my legs carried me to the gym which belonged to the volleyball team. I would typically play some volleyball whenever I was feeling angry or upset; when I was every other emotion as well though. I found hitting my thoughts out onto a volleyball helped to clear my head. What did surprise me is that the door opened when I pushed it.

The gym was quiet and dark, reminding me of the Karasuno gym that Kageyama and I used to sneak into for early morning practice before the rest of the team showed up. My heart ached slightly at the thought as my eyes searched for differences between the two gyms to ease the pain. This gym was slightly bigger with more viewing areas above the court; the net was also still set up, presumably from the morning practice the team had to endure this morning; and the basket of volleyballs also lay abandoned on the court.

I quickly and quietly shut the doors behind me, flicking the light switches that were located next to the door. I gingerly strolled over to the basket and picked up a volleyball, glancing around the space to ensure that no-one was present to witness my lack of control over my instincts telling me to play. My hand gently glided over its smooth surface, admiring the cleanliness of the ball. I bounced it firmly against the floor a few times whilst I walked to the end of the court.

I closed my eyes, focusing on the feeling of the ball in my hands. It had been longer than I would’ve liked since I had held a volleyball, and practising serving was never high on my list of things to do with said volleyball. I would much prefer to practice spiking, but there was no setter here to set the ball for me to slam out my frustrations and receiving didn’t have the same freeing feeling of hitting the volleyball as hard as you can until your hand is raw. I opened my eyes and focused on the span of the court, aiming just above white tape of the net.

I threw the ball in the air and began my approach, jumping just before the line of the court stood. I swung at the ball with all my might to release my pent-up frustrations, anger and hurt. I let out a surprised gasp as my arm swung at nothing, causing my centre of gravity to be thrown forward, causing me to end up rolling forward into a somersault. My eyes, which were screwed shut for the flip, opened in time to witness the ball crashing into my stomach, drawing out a soft, winded groan in pain.

“Hey you.” A gruff voice called from the now open doorway, causing me to jerk in surprise. There stood the blonde guy whose spike greeted my face yesterday. His previously hard eyes held some amusement in them, as if he found the situation amusing. He walked over to me swiftly, retrieving a ball from the basket. “Your technique is disgusting.”

I said nothing, shock closing my voice-box. Even after watching him play just one practice match the previous day, I knew that this was out of character. He was not a team player, much less someone who tries to help someone else improve; the toss he stole from Iwaizumi that hit me in the face for example. Yet the way he put it seemingly suited him.

“Think of it like you are spiking, but not as direct to the floor. It needs to travel further before it hits the floor, obviously.” He continued, bouncing the ball he occupied aimlessly. “I’ve seen videos of you playing, so I know you can do that much, even if you do like blocking and receiving with your face.”

“Did Oikawa send you to find me?” I asked defensively, assuming that was the cause of the change in heart of the stranger considering he wasn’t trying to be overly nice about trying to help.

“Like I would listen to anything that turd-licker says.” The boy growled. “Just… watch.”

He threw the ball and proceeded to begin his approach, keeping an eye on the ball and jumping just before the ball reached his hitting height. His back arched flexibly before surging forward, making me write a mental note to never anger the boy if I didn’t want to be crushed by his absolute power.

Watching him perform the jump serve caused me to realise that he was right. It was pretty close to spiking. I watched the ball slam in the other side of the court, shuddering at the powerful thud that echoed through the gym. After he landed, he turned to me and held out another ball.

“Your turn Tangerine.”

\-----

Natsu quickly let go off me hand as soon as she saw the front door, knowing I would not scold her for running off due to the fact I could still see her. I looked after her fondly, smiling at the way her hair bounced along with each step she took. The happiness, however, remained short lived.

I felt a wave of nervousness come over me as I grew closer to the entrance of my Grandmother’s house, eyes falling to my reddened hand. Although I had thoroughly enjoyed being back on the court, even if it was just with Kyotani and not spiking practice, I knew the consequences of my lack of control. A repeat of the morning would surely be in store for me if Mother found out that I had let into my urges to play.

I shoved my right hand into my pocket quickly, masking the red hand from any prying eyes. I pushed my way into the house, following my sister’s bouncing figure to the kitchen where Grandmother sat. Her eyes left the newspaper that had previously occupied her attention, glancing at me with a sad expression. The look, interrupted by Natsu and her happy ramblings about her day at school, didn’t last long, but it was enough to tell me that she knew what had happened this morning. Her eyes had subconsciously moved over to rest their gaze sadly on the fading mark on my cheek.

“Shoyo dear.” Grandmother called, drawing my attention back to reality. “Your Mother has found somewhere for you all to stay. Could you please assist her in packing up your things?”

“What?” I found myself saying, suddenly feeling flabbergasted. “We aren’t staying with you anymore?”

“I’m sorry my dear, I’m afraid not. Your mother wants to move out tonight into her own space. But you are welcome to come and visit.” She looked at me knowingly, sending a private message to me via her eyes. “Anytime.”

I nodded, knowing she was offering her house as a safe house if Mother decided to unleash her anger on me again. As I turned to assist Mother in packing, my mind began thinking about why Grandmother hadn’t done more to try and get us to stay with her. She obviously knew what had happened; what put us in the situation in the first place. Perhaps she knew that they were more likely to be found if we stayed with her much longer. _You just aren’t worth it. You aren’t worth the trouble of saving. No-one loves you. Not even your family. Not anymore._

\-----

My mind was numb, and I didn’t know how I managed to end up in the car, pulling away from Grandmother’s house and travelling in the direction of our new place. My mind was too busy bullying itself to comprehend the reality in which I existed. Now snapped out of my own thoughts and bathing in the uncomfortable and eerie silence, I noticed that it didn’t take long before we were pulling into the parking lot of a small apartment complex.

The building looked well kept with not a chip of the black paint peeling from the exterior wall. The garden bed was lined with beautiful rows of flowers with a small cheery blossom tree standing by the entrance. The setting sun reflected beautifully off the polished windows, causing the building to have a majestic glow to it. All in all, it was beautiful.

Mother silently exited the car, retrieving a bouncy Natsu from the backseat. She hadn’t spoken a word to me since this morning, only acknowledging my presence with angry glances at me, not that I expected any different. Everyone reacts differently.

\-----

_“Father, I need some advice.” I stated, sitting on the couch opposite my Father, watching him mute the television and turn his attention to me, a small, reassuring smile perched on his face. “Some dating advice.”_

_“Ah son!” He laughed out, allowing his smile to grow bigger as he clapped a hand to my shoulder, gripping it in a sign of endearment. “Who’s the lucky girl, ey? Never thought I would see the day that your mind would be on something other than volleyball!”_

_“Ah well, they actually play volleyball Father.” I said excitedly, fiddling with my fingers in an effort to rid myself of the nervous energy that had been building in my system over the past few days as I began to figure out my feelings. “And they are amazing. They play in the setter position.”_

_“I should’ve guessed they were a volleyball fanatic as well. What advice do you need? How to confess? I can’t tell you how to do it. You need to put your own flare on it. But trust me, when you are ready to tell her the words will come easily. You just have to wait for the perfect timing.”_

_“That’s actually really helpful Father. Thank you.”_

_“You’re welcome Shoyo! I am surprised you are wanting to pursue a relationship. Juggling volleyball, study and a girlfriend is not going to be easy. You struggle to study anyway, mind you. I don’t think the team would be appreciative of you ditching them for a girl.”_

_“I won’t be ditching them Father. We are on the same team so we will be able to spend time together whenever we practice.”_

_Father’s face became confused, letting silence hang between us heavily. “I didn’t know there was a mixed team at Karasuno. I thought you were on the boy’s team?”_

_“I am.” I said, confusion evident on my face and words. “Besides, you don’t need to worry about my studies. He is good at studying and is going to be studying to become a teacher next year. I am sure he will be able to help me get my grades up if I-“_

_A heavy blow to the side of my face caused me to fall to the ground, dazed and confused. I looked above me to see my Father seething with anger, fist raised as if he had punched something. As if he had punched me. My mind was blank as he grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, lifting me off the ground, causing my hands to instinctively grab his arm to prevent him from dropping me._

_“Tell me you are joking Shoyo.” He hissed; voice thick with venom. “No child of mine is that disgusting! You unnatural swine!”_

_My body was slammed to the ground with such force that my head bounced off the floor heavily. My vision become blotched with black and my hearing was battling with a high-pitched ringing. Father’s face began twisting in my poor vision, evolving into the face of nightmares, sickening look in his fiery eyes as he numbly typed something into his phone before holding it to his ear._

_“It’s okay son. I can help you. I’ll fix you so you are back to normal.”_

\-----

“Hello, you must be the new residents!” A cheery lady called out, greeting us with a warm and welcoming smile as she rushed excitedly over to our car. He face seemed familiar, yet I was positive I had never seen her before. “The Hinata’s? I’m so glad to meet you. If you could follow me up to your apartment, that would be wonderful. I’ll show you around on the way up!”

“Shoyo, grab the bags!” Mother snapped angrily at me, causing me to flinch slightly. I don’t know whether I would prefer her to continue giving me the silent treatment or speaking to me like that. I sighed quietly, returning to the car and opening the trunk.

I felt the women enter the building, the lack of their presence leaving me in a comfortable silence as opposed to the uncomfortable silence I experienced just moments earlier. I began to load the bags onto my arms, stacking them so that I would only have to make one trip, feeling too exhausted from the day to have to expend more energy to do another trip. I shut the trunk and balanced the bags in my arms, muttering to myself that this is a bad idea considering how clumsy I was known to be. Proceeding inside, I tripped over the entrance way mat (psychic) and was about to crash to the ground when a hand caught me by the back of my shirt, preventing me from meeting the floor.

“Long time, no see Carrot-top. You are quite the clumsy one, aren’t you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Hello my lovely cherubs!
> 
> I am so sorry that it has taken this long to update. School has been super busy with assignments and exam preparation and what have you.
> 
> Question of the chapter:
> 
> What team are you on?
> 
> So I saw this thing on TikTok that you search up the Haikyuu birthday list, find whoever's birthday is closest to yours and you are on the same team as them. 
> 
> I am on FUKURODANI! I actually feel like an owl whenever I am writing because I always seem to write more and better when it is late at night.
> 
> So I am going to try really hard to update as soon as possible, but no guarantees. Exams are in a week, but then I have a long-ass break so prepare for some rapid fire updates then.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll catch you soon!
> 
> Piece v(￣ｰ￣)v


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I felt the women enter the building, the lack of their presence leaving me in a comfortable silence as opposed to the uncomfortable silence I experienced just moments earlier. I began to load the bags onto my arms, stacking them so that I would only have to make one trip, feeling too exhausted from the day to have to expend more energy to do another trip. I shut the trunk and balanced the bags in my arms, muttering to myself that this is a bad idea considering how clumsy I was known to be. Proceeding inside, I tripped over the entrance way mat (psychic) and was about to crash to the ground when a hand caught me by the back of my shirt, preventing me from meeting the floor.  
> “Long time, no see Carrot-top. You are quite the clumsy one, aren’t you?”

(Hinata POV)

“Kunimi-san?” I said confusedly, righting myself onto my feet. “What are you doing here?”

Kunimi looked as though he had just arrived, presumably from volleyball practice. He was changed out of his uniform and wore a simple black shirt with baggy, white track pants. The faint smell of sweat with a masking smell of deodorant indicated he was yet to have a shower. The school issue bag, along with a similarly coloured gym bag sat perched on his shoulders, remaining still as they draped upon his slender body.

He looked at me with his usual bored expression, eyes staring back into my own curious gaze. It was unsettling, the way in which his eyes remained locked onto my own, as if he was looking directly into my soul, seeming to uncover every secret I dared hide. We held eyes for a small while before I broke the contact, searching the room for something to look at that wasn’t Kunimi in order to stop the feeling of being read like a book.

“My parents own the building.” He stated, his eyes still burning holes into my head, causing my already tiny body to shrink away from the sweltering gaze unconsciously. “And I live here.”

Nonchalantly, he reached down and shouldered two of the biggest bags I was attempting to carry and began walking across the lobby, toward the elevator. The bags were tossed onto his shoulder with ease as he sauntered away. Wordlessly I followed, heaving the remaining bags into my arms with great difficulty. Kunimi made it look too easy. The elevator doors had begun to open as I caught up to Kunimi, allowing us to enter its confinement together with an uncomfortable silence hanging over us.

Kunimi was no longer staring at me, opting to stare at the number dial even after pressing the number 14. I kept my eyes averted from the boy standing next to me, feeling the uneasy tension becoming thicker by the second. The upbeat elevator music did nothing to lessen the uneasiness that squeezed the air out of my lungs. I almost couldn’t breathe by the time the doors dinged open, thankful for the interruption to the awful silence. At this point I was wishing that Kunimi had’ve been a stranger to make the transaction less awkward, yet I didn’t understand why I felt so uncomfortable in his presence.

Kunimi led the way down a short hall and through an already opened door, his longer legs carrying him much faster, causing me to somewhat scurry after him. I stepped into our new home, admiring the look of the place. It was small and simple, but it was safe from the predatory eyes that would surely be looking for us soon. Despite knowing I would miss Grandmother, I knew deep down that as soon as he returned from his business trip, that would be one of the first places he looked.

The entranceway was directly attached to an open area that housed the kitchen, dining and lounge spaces. A hallway to the right led to three, small identical rooms with only a bed, wardrobe and desk in each, and a bathroom that held a toilet, shower and singular basin with a large mirror hanging directly above it. The whole apartment had a smart greyscale theme to match the exterior of the building with minimalistic furniture that kept the apartment looking larger.

I dropped the bags on the couch, silently signally Kunimi to do the same. Once the rooms were picked out, I would move the bags into their respective rooms, and most likely unpack them as well.

I looked to Kunimi who looked as though he wanted to say something, his face etching an unreadable expression. But before he could open his mouth, Mother and the lady that had met us by the car entered the room, Natsu in tow. Standing in the same room as one another, it was easy enough to figure out that the lady was Kunimi’s mother as they shared quite a few similar features.

“Let me know if there is anything further you need assistance with, Hinata-san! We would be more than happy to help.” The lady was saying as she headed to the door.

Mother followed her smiling, agreeing with everything the women was saying. My attention was shifted back to Kunimi, but his back was to me as he followed his Mother out the door, bowing politely to my Mother as he exited. He didn’t look back at me, refusing to acknowledge me before he retreated from view.

The door clicked shut behind them, leaving behind a deafening silence that was worse than the elevator ride with Kunimi. Natsu sensed the tension and shuffled from the room into her bedroom, unfortunately accustomed to sensing the emotional state of others. I, however, remained where I stood, wishing that I could go back and appreciate the awkward elevator ride more than I had. Anything was surely better than what was to come.

My mind was racing, trying to form the perfect sentence that would calm the room. It was proving to be a difficult task due to the fact that I had no idea why Mother was upset. Nothing I could come up with seemed generic and genuine enough to do the trick.

“You couldn’t even get the bags up here yourself?” Mother’s voice was low, dripping with the all too familiar emotion of hate. It had been like a switch was flicked inside of her since she found out I spent time with the volleyball team. It seemed she only flicked the switch back when we had company, opting to protect her social image than satisfy her emotions.

She turned to face me, her face covered with anger and hate. Yet another emotion kept flickering across her face, disrupting the projection of the hate onto me. It was conflicting with the emotions she was displaying, causing me to wonder if she was incidentally wearing a mask of hate and anger. But underneath the mask…

She was afraid.

“Mother, I-“

I was cut off by the collision of her fist to my left cheekbone. The force sent me stumbling back into the pile of bags that lay on the couch, allowing me to catch myself instead of falling to the floor. The slight cracks in her mask allowed me to see past the emotion she had begun to project onto me, yet it seemed to bring up more questions than it answered,

“Unpack, you runt.” I heard her growl, venom lacing her words heavily. “Of course I get stuck with a pathetic weakling such as you.”

I was unable to lift my face to meet her own as she walked away, afraid of receiving another blow to the face. With her unexpected outbursts like this, it was better to be safe than sorry; to roll with the punches. I wouldn’t be able to cover the bruises my face would receive if I dared make eye contact with her. I had learned from experience that eye contact tended to anger the punisher, as if I was daring to stand up against them. In the end it would only lead to more pain. It was easier to just submit to the torture. The pain will pass. Eventually.

\-----

It was the day after we had moved in, and I had never been so displeased that it was the weekend. Typically, the weekend meant no school and extra volleyball training, whether it be with the entire team or just Kageyama. But as of late, weekends meant homework and study without a drop of volleyball. It was typically boring and would cause me to become more easily agitated, making me think that a near death beating didn’t sound too bad in exchange for an outing to play some volleyball with anyone who was interested.

This weekend, however, was especially awful, due to the recent switch in Mother’s attitude toward me. Following orders from Mother, I had been busy all-day juggling study and housework, even though the apartment was immaculate from the complex’s professional cleaners. I spent so long on my hands and knees, scrubbing the floor and wiping the bottom of the walls with my protection from the harsh flooring, that large purple spots covered my kneecaps. However, the English homework hurt my head more than the bruises that protruded from my knees. The workload and difficulty was definitely a step up from the work I was given at Karasuno, and nothing I did would make the content stick in my mind.

Although I typically had endless amounts of energy, I was drained by the time I was made to start preparing dinner, due partially to the fact I had barely slept a wink the previous night. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see a silhouette, sometimes taking the shape of my Father, sometimes my Mother, and sometimes others. The silhouette would come rushing toward me from the entrance to my room, causing my eyes to shoot open in fear. My heart would pound and the sick feeling of frightful adrenaline, as apposed to the excited adrenaline I felt when playing volleyball, would be enough to keep my eyes pinned open for a short while before the cycle began again.

Dinner was easy enough to make, despite the lethargic feeling that spread through my whole body and the headache that was pulsating through my head. It didn’t take long for me to complete, allowing me some free time to rest my tired body and perhaps catch up on some sleep. I made it over to the couch with great effort due to the feeling of my muscles beginning to shut down in anticipation for rest, but light knocking upon the door paused my descent into the comfortable cushions, leaving me to hover in an awkward position for a few seconds to mentally groan.

I made my way over to the door, knowing that I would be yelled at to get the door if I had decided to collapse on the couch and sleep as I had previously planned. I twist the lock on the door numbly, hearing the soft click that signalled the lock sliding out of its place. A swift turn of the doorknob and a gentle pulling of the door revealed a bored looking Kunimi staring down at me. His outfit was strikingly different to what had seen him in the previous day; he had obviously opted for a more fashionable look with black skinny jeans and a casual, light blue button up.

“Ah, Hinata-san.” He yawned lazily, staring me down with his usual distasteful gaze. “I have come to escort you.”

“Eh?” I managed to squeak out. Panic began to rise in my chest, constricting my throat and causing my heart to pump faster. _He is a volleyball player! I can’t be seen with him, especially not here! If Mother finds out I am sure to get another beating! I need to get away-_

“Who is at the door?” I heard a voice call from behind me. Although she sounded sweet, I could hear the venomous undertones flowing under her words.

“I’m Kunimi Akira, ma’am.” Kunimi stated without missing a beat, his tone instantaneously switching from disinterested to politely warm, as if he had put on a customer voice that retail workers typically use. “I helped you move in yesterday. It was actually quite the coincidence that I ran into Shoyo downstairs yesterday because we have a school project that we were assigned to do together. I was hoping I could borrow him tonight so we could make a head start on it?”

 _School project?_ My eyes, unbeknown to me, had fallen to Kunimi’s feet, most likely when the voice of my Mother was heard. I quickly shifted my gaze back to Kunimi’s face, noting he was now looking over my head at my Mother with a smile on his face, that sudden switch most likely matching with his voice. I had never seen him smile, only seeing him with an expression not dissimilar to Kageyama’s. Yet I was glad he could manage a normal smile, unlike Kageyama’s smile which merely made him look evil. His whole demeanour had shifted with the entrance of another party, as if he felt like he needed to put on an act in the presence of Mother.

“School project? Shoyo didn’t tell me about any upcoming projects, though I suppose starting early wouldn’t hurt. I will send him down after dinner.”

“There is no need ma’am!” Kunimi chuckled politely, tilting his head to the side with a hand reaching to scratch the back of his neck. “My Mother insisted on having him for dinner once I told her my intentions of asking him to come over.”

“I see. That is very kind. Be sure to thank your Mother for me.” She paused, continuing in a more forceful voice. “Shoyo. Don’t keep the boy waiting. Get your study things and run along.”

In shock of the decision that my Mother had come to, my brain couldn’t digest the information that overloaded it; Kunimi standing in the doorway, Mother staring at me intensely, the heavy feeling of tension and fakery that seemed to go unnoticed by the two of them. My brain had officially blown up, unable to properly comprehend all the stimulations it was receiving. Thankfully my body began moving by itself, moving to collect my schoolbooks that lay sprawled over the desk and shove them into my schoolbag.

As I walked back past Mother toward the door, I felt her grab my arm harshly. Kunimi was just outside the doorway, facing the opposite direction, completely oblivious to the iron grip that bruised my right bicep. Unable to remove myself from her grip, I paused my escape, keeping my eyes forward.

“Listen to me runt.” Mother spat, only loud enough for me to hear. “He might be a part of the track team, but that doesn’t mean I am stupid enough to think you won’t think of convincing him to play volleyball with you. No funny business. If you so much as think about even touching a volleyball or anything of the sorts, your sorry ass will wish that you were never born. You hear me?”

I kept my eyes glued to the ground and lips sealed, nodding slightly to indicate that I understood her lethal words. Her vice grip loosened slightly in order to for her to harshly rip her hand away and cause my arm to flare up in pain. However, my mind was too preoccupied with mulling over what she had said, particularly the part about Kunimi being a part of the track team. Once again, my body began moving on its own, taking me to the doorway numbly, pulling the door shut behind me. Hearing the door click shut behind me caused a new sort of energy to speed through my body, knowing that I was free, figuratively and literally, from my Mother’s grasp for at least a short while.

“Come on.” Kunimi mumbled, smile non-existent anymore, yet his eyes somewhat held kindness in them. A more authentic kindness than before from what I could tell. “They are all waiting.”

“They?” I asked, quickly taking off after Kunimi with my new-found energy as he began in the direction of the elevators. “Who is they? And what is this school project? And why does Mother think you are on the track team?”

Kunimi sighed as he pressed the up button, stepping into the elevator that automatically dinged open. He glanced at me to ensure I followed before locking his eyes on the number pad, swiping a jet black card against a small golden box that protruded beneath the numbers before pressing the largest number available; 25. “Well you didn’t want her to know about me being on the volleyball team did you?” He asked pointedly.

I remained silent, staring at him with wide eyes and a slightly ajar mouth. _How did he know that?_ He didn’t turn to face me, but I saw his yes flicker over to my face, causing him to raise an eyebrow. “Ah, so my hunch was correct.” He mumbled, leaning against the back wall as the elevator began to ascend.

“Well that didn’t answer all of my questions.” I grumbled under my breath, deciding to take interest in the opposite wall when Kunimi’s gaze shifted over to me.

The doors opened silently once we had finished our rise, revealing a large room. The room was filled with sleek furniture, that followed a similar colour scheme to my own apartments with some accenting red items, and was at least the size of my whole apartment. And perched atop of the numerous matching black couches and armchairs sat members of the Aobajohsai volleyball team, staring expectantly at us.

“The noble Kunimi has returned!” A loud Kindaichi announced. He jumped up from his spot next to Iwaizumi and bolted over to where Kunimi and I stood. “And he bought Shoyo with him! It worked!”

“I am very confused.” I stated, standing stock still and staring up at Kindaichi’s overjoyed face as he removed my bag from my shoulder. “What is happening?”

Everyone in the room was dressed much like Kunimi, with variations of tight jeans and casual button up shirts, apart from Kyotani. His presence in a baggy tracksuit made me feel more at ease for being pulled here in the casual grey track pants and plain black shirt. Although I wish I could’ve been informed prior to Kunimi’s surprise visit so I could’ve at least freshened up a bit.

“We wanted to talk to you Shoyo.” Spoke Iwaizumi softly yet loudly enough to be heard from across the room. “Talk to you about why you don’t want to join the team.”

“Mad-dog told me about finding you in the gym after stormed off on poor Kin-chan!” Oikawa playfully added, resting back into the comfortable looking cushion. “It was surprising enough to receive a text from Kuni-chan in general, so you can imagine my surprise when I hear from Kuni-chan that you moved in.”

A firm hand grasped my shoulder, drawing my eyes over to Kyotani who had vacated his previous seated position. “I want you to be on my team Red.” Kyotani said smoothly, guiding me over to his now vacant armchair and pushing me to sit in its soft confines. “That is why I told the turd licker ( _“Hey don’t call me that! Iwa-chan! Mad-dog is being mean again!” “Shut up Loser-kawa.”_ ) about us practicing together.”

“It’s alright Kyotani-san. I understand.” I said sadly, letting my gaze fall to the ground. “But I can’t play volleyball. I’m sorry. That can no longer be a part of who I am.”

I heard someone cautiously make their way over to me and kneel in front of where I sat. They softly took my hands in their larger ones, almost fully covering them. My eyes were drawn up to see the face of Oikawa. His countenance no longer held a playful glint, instead etching into a serious and sadden gaze. I couldn’t help but understand why he had so many fans, considering his undeniable natural beauty. He made being gorgeous look effortless.

“Shoyo.” He spoke softly, squeezing my hands gently in a surprisingly comforting manner. “Do you still enjoy volleyball?”

I was thrown off by the question, fully expecting to be pried apart in order to uncover the truth. I had been afraid that they would forcefully break through the walls I had carefully built around myself. Yet, it was such a simple an unexpected question, with no force to it at all, that I found myself nodding truthfully.

“Then that should be reason enough to play.” He stated simply, eyes never leaving mine, keeping me in a strong yet calm contact. “If you enjoy volleyball, if it makes you happy, then you should play. No matter what the challenges you are faced with, if you want to play and join our team, we will be there to support and help you.”

“I can’t tell you…”

“You don’t have to tell us anything. If it makes you more comfortable to not tell us, or to only tell some of us, then so be it. We will still be there to support you. As long as we know what you need us to do, we will help you.”

A short pause caused silence to fill the air. My mind struggled to understand the fact that the whole teams was there to support me, and they all trust me enough to know that I will open up to them when I am ready.

“Why are you doing this?” I whispered out; my eyes still unable to drop contact with Oikawa’s warm gaze. “I am nothing without Kageyama’s precision sets.”

“You are special Shoyo, and not because of Tobio-chan. You are so much more than his weapon, and with a bit of training you will be even better. You are your own player. I can see how amazing you are now, and I can see your potential. Besides, even if you do stuff up, we, your team, have your back.”

Over Oikawa’s shoulders I could see the kind eyes of the team, respectfully taking in the scene in front of them from a distance, trusting their captain. “My team.” I whispered, pushing myself into Oikawa’s unprepared arms with not quite enough force to knock him over. “I want to be a part of the team. I want to play volleyball with you guys.”

Tears began to soak into Oikawa’s shirt and silent sobs caused my body to shudder every so often. Just the knowledge that this group of people, my new team, cared enough to blindly trust me and protect me bought the tears forth. Oikawa’s arms snaked around me without hesitation, matching my slightly crushing grip that was around his neck. The tears didn’t last long however, tear glands having been sucked dry by the previous night’s fear-filled crying. Instead, the comforting feeling of safety and lack of any energy whatsoever caused my eyelids to droop and become heavy. I whispered a small “I trust you.” into Oikawa’s chest tiredly, unsure if he was even able to hear me.

Soon after, I felt strong arms pick me up from my position, walk a small while before turning and sitting me on their lap, each leg sitting either side of Oikawa’s with my chest against his and head tucked softly into his neck. His chest felt strong against my own and his alluring smell caused my whole body to relax further than I thought possible. Another gentle hand, presumably Iwaizumi’s, rubbed my back before a warmth covered my back, presumably from someone’s jacket due to the size, continuing the action atop my covering. Oikawa’s large hands busied themselves as they carded carefully through my unruly locks, lulling me closer to unconsciousness.

Just before I lost the battle to stay awake, I heard the sweet comforting voice of my present cuddle buddy whisper into my hair.

“Don’t worry little one. We’ve got you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Hello my lovely cherubs!
> 
> Goodness me. I am so sorry for the delay on getting this chapter to you guys. Things have been super hectic with exams and studying, as well as having a case of severe writers block at the start of the chapter. It is currently 12:30 am where I live and I just couldn't leave you guys waiting for another day.
> 
> Question of the chapter:
> 
> This isn't really a question, but I thought it would be good to support other artists, so name up to two stories that are your favourite (with at least one Oihina one).
> 
> My Oihina recommendation is called 'The Spider Lily's Web' by MooksMookin and spacegirlkj (found on Ao3). It is slow updating but is written so extremely well.
> 
> And for my second recommendation, it is actually a YamaHina story. It is called 'Fading Sunshine' by AppleCider (also found on Ao3). This story legit has made me cry and is probably my favourite fanfiction I have ever read. It is absolutely amazing and tackles some really emotional issues. Make sure you are emotionally prepared if you are going to read this one.
> 
> Anyway, I just wanted to apologise again. The next chapter will be out shortly. Let me know what you think of the story so far.
> 
> I also want to thank those who are commenting and what have you. It is really encouraging to read what you all have to say.
> 
> Love you guys.
> 
> Piece v(￣ｰ￣)v


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just before I lost the battle to stay awake, I heard the sweet comforting voice of my present cuddle buddy whisper into my hair.   
> “Don’t worry little one. We’ve got you.”

(Iwaizumi POV)

I looked over to Oikawa who was watching the little fluff of red that poked out from under my discarded jacket. The jacket made Hinata look much smaller than he was, although the release of the emotional pressure he had built up within him most likely attributed to that. He had curled right up on Oikawa’s lap, most likely to make himself feel less vulnerable after his breakdown, and had fallen asleep almost immediately. His darkened under-eyes told me there was more to his actions than meets the eye.

A quick scan of the room revealed that almost everyone’s eyes were on the small red head; everyone except Kunimi who seemed to be staring at the ground rather intensely. Although he was usually quiet and reserved, he had seemed more so since he had returned with Hinata. I returned my eyes to Hinata, continuing to run my hand soothingly along the sleeping boy’s back. I typically wasn’t one for showing affection towards those close to me, but even without any knowledge of what was happening in Hinata’s life, I knew that he needed more than what I typically provided as a show of comfort; a slap on the back or a fist bump didn’t seem appropriate.

“Alright, Kunimi.” Oikawa mumbled, drawing everyone’s attention immediately to him without looking up or moving from his gentle hold of Hinata. Although he is often seen as a talented, pretty-boy goofball captain, everyone on the team, even the first years, knew how Oikawa could get when he became serious. I knew first hand how much of a façade he puts on in order to be seen that way, especially off-court. “Time to spill. What happened when you went to get him?”

Kunimi’s usual blank face slipped momentarily, allowing his surprise at Oikawa’s observational skills to show, only to be covered by a mix between a scoff and sigh barely a second later. “His Mother asked me about whether I was on a volleyball team, but the way she said it was as if it was the same as being a part of the mafia or something. After I told her I was on a track team instead she calmed down a lot.”

“Safe to say that she has a part to play in preventing the Tangerine from playing.” Kyotani growled, gripping his hands together to try and suppress his anger. The amount of anger he was failing to hold in surprised me.

“Calm down Kyotani-san.” I growled at him, worried he might leave to try and punch Hinata’s Mother in the face; that was the last thing Hinata needed since he wanted to play volleyball again. A group of volleyballers showing up to punch you in the face isn’t the greatest way to show that we were a civil group of people. “We don’t know the specifics of the situation. If we act before we know the full picture we could have it all wrong and make things worse.”

“Right as always Iwa-chan.” Oikawa giggled, locking my eyes with his own and earning a small grumble about not calling me Iwa-chan at a time like this. His mood is hard to pinpoint sometimes, flipping just like a switch at random times. Yet I had spent enough time around him to become accustomed to locating the smallest reasons for his mood switches.

The room fell silent apart from the loud rhythmic breathing coming from Hinata’s sleeping form, toeing the line of gentle snoring. The silence was never awkward in the group, even with the heaviness of the emotional evening so far and the small addition. I watched Oikawa swipe a stray hair from Hinata’s closed eyes, seemingly unaware of the several pairs of eyes that captured the sweet moment. I couldn’t find it in me to tease Oikawa for the innocent and loving gesture, for the small boy had already successfully wormed his way into my heart as well, along with presumably everyone else on the team.

The comfortable silence was broken by Kunimi who idly murmured something about food. I let out a small sigh as I looked over at Oikawa, still too engrossed in his new job as Hinata’s personal cuddle buddy to do his actual job of being a good captain to the team, before I joined Kunimi in the kitchen. He began to pull out trays and plates to cook and serve the small pile of meat buns on, leaving me to ready the meat buns onto the trays

“I have booked the restaurant for 6:30 Iwaizumi-san.” Kunimi stated, still busying himself with the task of readying the snacks for the team. “I think we may need to lend Hinata some clothes though. I couldn’t exactly tell him that we were going to be going out for dinner with his Mother present. You should’ve heard how she spoke to him; it was even worse when she thought I couldn’t hear.”

“Thank you, Kunimi-san. It can’t have been easy to put yourself into this unknown situation as the face for the team.” I said lightly, placing the first tray of meat buns into the oven that Kunimi must’ve turned on before I entered. “I appreciate all you have done to help us in reaching Hinata and understanding the situation a little bit better. And I am sure we can find him some clothes that will fit well enough for the time being.”

“Watari-san is probably the closest in size to the kid, so you should probably ask him.” Kunimi pointed out, busying himself with retrieving several water bottles from the fridge and skilfully avoiding the appreciation I expressed. “If not, I may have some clothes that are on the smaller side.”

“Perhaps we ought to have a look into your clothes. I’m sure Watari-san would be happy to share but he also probably didn’t pack extra clothes for the little crow.”

Kunimi didn’t answer as he left the room with an armful of water bottles to be distributed amongst the team. I gathered the remaining bottles into my arms and followed Kunimi back to the lounge area only to see him disappearing down the hallway, presumably in search of clothes that wouldn’t look like Hinata is drowning in them. I decided against following him, respecting the privacy of his bedroom, and took a seat in my previous place.

“Meat buns are in the oven and the reservation is at 6:30.” I announced quietly enough as to not disturb Hinata’s sleeping form but loudly enough to be heard by everyone. I glanced at the wristwatch that Oikawa sported, admiring the sleek looking simplicity of the black and white themed item. “It is 4:00 now, but don’t leave it to the last minute to get ready. We have enough to worry about without having to rush around after you guys.”

“Hajime?”

I turned to face Oikawa after observing that the rest of the team returned to their own conversations amongst themselves, or the playing on their phones in Kyotani’s case. Hinata hadn’t moved an inch in Oikawa’s embrace, the weak grip his hands held onto Oikawa’s shirt going unnoticed until now. Oikawa was no longer gazing upon the small form in his arms, opting to look me dead in the eye with his warm chocolate orbs holding a sense of seriousness within them. That paired with the use of my first name expressed to me plainly the topic he wished to discuss.

“I know Toru.” I answered, unconsciously swiping my hand through my hair and down my face, a habit that occurred whenever I found myself overly stressed. “I don’t know what to do to help him either. We just need to trust him, like you said.”

“Surely we cannot let him go back there.” He exclaimed quietly, sadly shifting his gaze back to the younger boy. “There is something not right going on at his house. He might not be safe.”

“I understand that, but we can’t just decide these things for him. All we can do is give him an out and protect him best we can from wherever he decides he needs our protection. He is with us now, so at least we know that he isn’t alone anymore.”

I watched as Oikawa’s eyes gleamed as he heard the final words from my spiel. “Yeah we have him now. I can’t wait to toss for him. I am going to show Tobio-chan just how limiting he was to him.”

I scoffed harshly. “You really are a shitty guy Loser-kawa. Not everything is about getting back at Kageyama-san for being a better setter than you without trying.”

“Now you are just being mean and vulgar Iwa-chan.” Oikawa cried dramatically, snapping his head violently to face me, jolting Hinata in the process. The sudden movement elicited a low groan from the first year, followed by a slow revelation of unfocused hazel eyes. I took it upon myself to slap Oikawa upside the head for causing Hinata to awaken from his seemingly well-needed slumber. Oikawa’s dramatics were always over the top, and I should’ve realised how he would pretend to react to our running joke.

“Would you like a meat bun Hinata-san?”

\-----

“Hurry up Shitty-kawa!” I growled at the brunette as he fussed over his hair, trying to wrestle the fly-away hairs and stray waves into the perfect position. I should’ve known it would be him holding us up like he always does; whether it be for his appearance or because fangirls surrounded him. “You are going to make us all late, and we both know your hair will never remain the way you style it. The wind will ruin it as soon as you step outside, if it even makes it that far.”

“Alright, alright! I’m coming! Chill Iwa-chan!” He giggled, rushing past me childishly. I sighed at the memory of half an hour previous when I told Oikawa to get ready. He had claimed that he would be ready in two minutes and was too busy ‘beating’ Hinata, Matsukawa and Hanamaki at Uno. Of course, he had lost every game, even with Yahaba trying to assist him, and accused the three opposition of cheating.

I gathered with the awaiting team, noting that Kyotani and Hinata were yet to join them as they crowded by the entrance. They were the only ones who had to change as they were both in tracksuit which was deemed inappropriate for a trip to a restaurant. Convincing Kyotani to change would’ve been impossible if it hadn’t had been for the extreme persuasive abilities of the newest addition of the team.

A few seconds after joining the group, Hinata and Kyotani emerged from the guest room more appropriately dressed for the restaurant in which we would be attending. Kyotani, like majority of us, wore a simple button up with jeans and a coat topping it.

Hinata, however, looked fresh off the runway, sporting a long-sleeved, black button up with high-waisted, baggy faded jeans. His jeans had to be rolled at the bottom to prevent him from tripping over the legs, showing off his pair of red converse. The shirt was slightly unbuttoned at the top and tucked into the pants at the front, held up by a fashionable black belt to hold the jeans to the small of his waist.

“Wow, Chibi-chan!” Oikawa exclaimed, pushing his glasses up his nose. “How do you look better in Kunimi’s clothes than he does?”

I internally facepalmed at Oikawa’s backhanded insult that was directed at Kunimi, directing my own physical backhand to his shoulder. He winced at the collision and rubbed the abused shoulder, mumbling under his breath about what he said being a compliment. I gave Kunimi an apologetic look, knowing Oikawa was in a childish mood and wouldn’t take it upon himself to apologise, only to be met by the back of Kunimi’s head as he entered the now open elevator doors. I herded the group into the elevator, squeezing in last and standing by Hinata.

I looked down at the short boy that stood beside me as the doors hissed shut. He looked nervous, purposely avoiding my gaze, causing me to become overly confused. I was used to people being intimidated by my looks, but that had never seemed the case for Hinata. _Was he afraid that I would hit him like I do with Toru? That would make the most sense considering the situation he is most likely in_.

“Don’t worry little man.” I whispered, watching Hinata flinch away slightly as I leant in to ensure only he could hear me. “Oikawa is the only one stupid enough to require the odd slap from me. You seem smart enough to avoid needing to be bought back into line unlike him.”

“I’m not worried about you hitting me Iwaizumi-senpai.” He whispered back; his demeanour showed he became a touch more comfortable in my presence. A slight shudder ran down my back at the inclusion of ‘senpai’ to my name as I internally cringed at my reaction to the honorific. “It is just… You are very different to Asahi-senpai, and yet I can’t help but admire you and your talent. I was working toward becoming Karasuno’s ace before…”

I nodded in understanding, determine to skirt around the subject in order to settle Hinata’s mind. “I have no doubt that you will be able to do that. You are extremely talented. We could do some extra practice together, and I can teach you all I know. If you’d like that is.”

The doors dinged open in perfect unison with the ignition of excitement in Hinata’s eyes, showing me his answer without the need for any words. I smiled and led the way out of the cramped space and out into the cooling night air. The opportunity for Hinata to reply was interrupted by a weight on my back, causing me to lose my balance and stumble forward. Just as sudden as the weight appeared it left accompanied by the sounds of giggles and heavy footsteps.

“SHITTY-KAWA!” I shouted, rushing after him. “YOU ALMOST PUSHED ME OVER!”

It didn’t take long for me to catch him, being quite a bit faster than him assisting greatly. I grabbed him by the nape and tripped him swiftly with my right foot, catching him by the back of his shirt before he touched the pavement below us.

“AHHH IWA-CHAN!” Oikawa screamed out in a high-pitched voice, reaching back to grab my arm that was holding him. “HAVE MERCY!”

An eruption of giggles from behind me drew both Oikawa’s and my attention to the group as they approached. The source of the giggles seemed to be Hinata, who was now positioned on a rather pleased Kyotani’s back. _That’s new_. I lifted Oikawa to his feet and let him go with a slap to the back of the head, noting the small smile he tried to hide as we continued to the restaurant, matching my own unconscious smile.

The remainder of the short trip by someway turned into a piggyback race; Hinata remaining on Kyotani’s back, Hanamaki on Matsukawa’s and Oikawa somehow ending up on mine. I wasn’t sure how I got dragged into this immature race, nor how I got landed with Oikawa, but it was happening. Unsurprisingly Kyotani won, considering Hinata weighs like nothing and he wasn’t afraid to get his nicer clothes dirty with sweat. Hinata didn’t appear to mind, seeming to egg Kyotani on, determined to win.

Kunimi led the way through the doors of the restaurant with Oikawa and I rounding up the rear. I was about to enter the building when I felt Oikawa stop beside me, his hand attaching to my wrist. I turned to face him, only to find his chocolate curls in my face. I leant to the side to see past his head and sighed quietly at the sight; a grey-haired man with his arm threaded through a slightly taller and broader dark-haired boy. I sent a quick glance inside, somehow locating Hinata among the group, not purposefully hiding behind Kyotani.

His eyes became trained onto the new addition to the party, widening at the sight. I saw his smile falter completely, with his eyes showing mostly sadness with a hint of fear. His body shrank as he fully hid behind Kyotani, purposefully now, and reached up to whisper in his ear before they both wordlessly navigated the tables in the direction of the toilets.

“Oikawa-san?” The shorter man called out, drawing my attention back to the two people in front of us.

“Ah the captain and vice-captain of Karasuno!” Oikawa called lightly, painting the perfect picture of ease. “To what do we owe the pleasure? Are you stalking us? How is my little protege?”

“We were just… out for dinner.” The dark-haired male said stiffly.

“Daichi, come on.” The grey-haired said gently. “Maybe they can help?”

“Help with what?” I found myself asking, taking a step toward the duo to be level with Oikawa.

“Hinata, our little number ten.” The vice captain said slowly, tears forming in his eyes. “He is missing. We don’t know where he is and haven’t heard from him. The whole team has been spending their spare time walking the streets of nearby towns just in case we have a chance meet up, but so far nothing.”

If only they knew how close that had come to that very thing happening

“Ah.” Oikawa let out quickly. “We shall be sure to keep an eye out for him then. We haven’t seen him.”

Oikawa didn’t wait for a reply, entering the restaurant without another word. I nodded politely toward the Karasuno players before following him, taking note as they continued their journey through the streets, huddled quite closely together. I turned and headed straight for the bathroom, patting Oikawa on the shoulder before we separated to communicate my action, in order to check up on Hinata.

I found the two escapees standing by the furthest sink, Hinata clutching the basin tightly with Kyotani leaning on the wall watching over him. He was never good at emotions, so it was surprising to see that it was him that Hinata chose to accompany him in his escape. However, within the short amount of time seeing them together, it was obvious that Kyotani felt he was responsible for protecting the small boy, having a relationship that resembled a caring sibling bond; a bond I could never imagine Kyotani being present in.

“Hinata.” I said gently, reaching to rub his back soothingly, noting the way in which his lungs seemed to fill somewhat more rapidly than usual. The last thing Hinata needed was to have a panic attack on his first outing with his new teammates. “They are gone now. Come an- “

“Did you tell them I was with you?” Hinata managed to push out, effectively cutting me off.

“They asked about you, but no. We thought you would have a reason for not telling them.”

He remained still for a moment before allowing himself to be led to the table in which the rowdy team was situated. He was promptly retrieved from my guiding hand and squished between Kindaichi and Kyotani, effectively hidden from the window by the large booth backings and bodies either side of him. I opted to slide in next to Oikawa, opposite Hinata, to observe him through dinner and ensure he was feeling comfortable and not panicked.

It didn’t take long before the group had successfully distracted Hinata from the unexpected party crashers which I was thankful for. From Oikawa’s crazy alien stories to Hanamaki pretending to be a walrus with his chopsticks to embarrassing team stories, the group was drowning the room with happiness and chatter. Even after the arrival of our dinner, the laughter and general banter of the group filled the building, most likely annoying the other patrons and staff. But our focus remained on our newest addition, not caring so much about how others in the building saw us.

A mere hour later we were on our way out, leaving Oikawa to sulk as he paid for the groups meals while I handled the cost of everyone’s drinks. I made Oikawa pay for punishment of nearly making us late because of his hair; and also because he is a ‘good’ captain. We joined the group outside just in time to witness a race between Hinata, Kindaichi and Kyotani begin, with Hinata managing to remain in first place.

“Just when we thought we had somewhat of an idea of what his situation was, we are enlightened to just how much we don’t know.” I heard Oikawa sigh before beginning the trek back to Kunimi’s penthouse.

I couldn’t help but agree. The mystery of the reaction Hinata had of seeing the Karasuno players, as well as the mystery of why he hadn’t told them anything remained unsolved, leaving us to believe we were more in the dark than previously thought. Yet I knew the truth would come to the light eventually. We didn’t need to rush him; whether it be tonight, when we began training, at the spring tournament when we face his old teammates or even after that, I knew Hinata would tell us when he felt comfortable and ready.

For now, we just had to follow his lead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Hello my lovely cherubs!
> 
> I have missed you guys! I have no excuses except for writer's block for the delay on this chapter and I'm sorry. But I am certain that the coming chapter's will be much easier for me to write, so stay tuned!
> 
> Question of the chapter:
> 
> Is there a character that you would like to see a POV from?
> 
> I can't really answer this question, but I can tell you there will be a surprise POV in the next chapter! Anyone guesses it and I'll send you a spirit cookie because mailing a cookie would ruin it's integrity and I'd have eaten it before it reaches the envelope.
> 
> Quick thank you to all of you who are showing your support by commenting, voting and bookmarking. They really helped motivate me and I love hearing your feedback!
> 
> Anyway, until next time cherubs! Love you guys!
> 
> Piece v(￣ｰ￣)v


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I couldn’t help but agree. The mystery of the reaction Hinata had of seeing the Karasuno players, as well as the mystery of why he hadn’t told them anything remained unsolved, leaving us to believe we were more in the dark than previously thought. Yet I knew the truth would come to the light eventually. We didn’t need to rush him; whether it be tonight, when we began training, at the spring tournament when we face his old teammates or even after that, I knew Hinata would tell us when he felt comfortable and ready.  
> For now, we just had to follow his lead.

(Tsukishima POV)

The piercing buzzing of blaring from my phone cut through the air, filling my room with the irritating sound. I sighed quietly, rolling onto my side and reaching over to shut it up and retrieve my glasses. The alarm was intended to pull me from my slumber, but I had found myself staring at the roof above my head for the past few hours, silently listening to classical music through my headphones in an effort to return to unconsciousness. However, I had no luck, opting to instead observe the steady lightening of my room with the rising of the sun, so the alarm had become a signal for me to get out from the comfort of my bed.

I grunted softly as I pushed myself to a seated position, letting the blanket fall from my torso and bundle in my lap as I placed the frames of my glasses onto my nose. The fresh, morning air that hung in my room kissed at my bare chest, overpowering the comfortable warmth that radiated from my body. An involuntary shiver ran down my body as I retrieved the sweater that I had worn before bed the previous night, discarded onto my desk chair which was within arm’s reach of my bed, and pulled it over my head. I swung my track pant clad legs out from under the covers and slipped my green dinosaur slippers that Yamaguchi had gifted me for my 15th birthday onto my still warm feet. I willed my body to stand, pushing off the bed with the usual, overexerted effort it took in the morning, before shuffling to the door.

I made my way silently to the guest bedroom that was situated at the end of the corridor my room was also found in. A tired hand ran through my knotted, blonde hair, grimacing at the excess oil that transferred from my hair to my hand. I desperately needed a shower to rid the most likely hideous sight. I pushed myself into the guest room slightly, remaining in the vicinity of the doorframe so to make a quick escape.

“Tadashi. Tobio.” I spoke, keeping my voice as monotone as possible. “I am having a shower. Mother will have breakfast ready for you in a few minutes.”

I left the doorway, the sounds of disgruntled grunts following my trek to the bathroom that was directly across the hall from the guest room. I swiftly entered and locked the door behind me, remembering Kageyama’s tendency to enter a room without announcing his presence. The milestone memory of the first time he stayed the night at my house seemed to welcome itself to the forefront of my brain whenever I entered the seemingly cursed bathroom. That entire night had marked the change in the relationship Yamaguchi and I had found ourselves in with Kageyama, as well as the decline in overall happiness of the volleyball team.

\-----

_“Has anyone heard from Hinata?” Kageyama asked the group quietly, as if afraid that the team would shout at him for being worried about his best friend. “He isn’t responding to any of my texts.”_

_“I’m sorry Kageyama!” Yamaguchi replied instantly, knowing I wouldn’t bother answering any question Kageyama asks me, unless I felt like being sarcastic or an asshole. “I haven’t heard from him either. Maybe his stomach bug is really bad. He could be sleeping and really delirious. I know when I get really sick I spend so much time sleeping, and when I wasn’t sleeping I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to reply to Tsukki. He got so worried that he came over and was nearly in-“_

_“Shut up Tadashi.” I snapped, cutting him off with a hand slapped over his mouth and looking away sharply. The King of the Court didn’t need stories of me crying about Yamaguchi not responding to my messages to hold against me as blackmail._

_“Gomen Tsukki.” Yamaguchi mumbled through my flesh before gently pushing my hand from his face. “Perhaps we could go and visit him tonight to check up on him.”_

_“We?” Kageyama questioned timidly, shooting a glance at me. “You will both come with me?”_

_“Sure, Tsukki and I don’t have anything to do tonight, do we Tsukki?”_

_“I’m not going.”_

_“Tsukki, don’t be like that!”_

_“I’m not going Tadashi.”_

_“Tsukki, please?”_

_“No.”_

_\-----_

_The trek up the hill to Hinata’s house was torturous, yet the sinking feeling that hung in my stomach was worse for some reason. We peered through the windows and into the darkened house after knocking repetitively on the front door, noting the house was void of all life. The feeling only grew as we rounded the side of the house, following Kageyama to a window that I imagined was to Hinata’s bedroom. The image of three teenage boys prowling around a house was sure to frighten the neighbours if they were paying attention._

_But, looking into the slightly messy room, nothing seemed out of place. His room was a typical teenage boys’ room, littered with some clothes and a few things out of place here and there, as well as the various volleyball posters that hung upon the wall. The fact that his volleyball sat on the horridly made bed was surely a good sign. But one glance at Kageyama’s face made me think that this is not perhaps normal or a good sign for Hinata._

_“Something is wrong.” Kageyama stated in a quiet voice. “He always has a clean room. Cleaning helped him burn off some energy when he wasn’t allowed outside to practice volleyball. He needed to burn off the energy somehow, especially if he had homework he had to complete.”_

_\-----_

_“Tsukishima-kun?”_

_“Daichi-senpai. Tadashi, Kageyama and I went to Hinata’s house to check up on him since he wasn’t answering any calls or texts, but Kageyama seems to think something is wrong. Something in Hinata’s room isn’t right apparently. I don’t know but-“_

_“Tsukishima… Suga and I were planning on telling the team tomorrow… but- well- we just found out that Hinata’s been pulled out of school.”_

_“Pulled him out? That makes no sense. Why… Sorry Daichi-senpai. I think Tobio is beginning to have a panic attack. I will call you back later.”_

_\-----_

_I entered the bathroom, breathing in the humidified air, layered thickly with steam. I took no time stripping out of my clothes and stepping under the warm blast of water, already hot due to the recency of Kageyama’s shower. The mirror was heavily obstructed by the culmination of steam from both guests’ showers, my glasses taking seconds to become just as useless._

_Whatever had possessed me to invite both Yamaguchi and Kageyama to stay the night instantly left me when I stepped foot in the shower and felt the lukewarm water drizzling from the shower head at a slow pace. All I had wanted to do from when I had finished school was come home and have a piping hot shower to burn away the disgusting layer of sweat that hugged my body with my strawberry scented body wash. Not only did my guests use practically all of the hot water, they had run my body wash dry._

_I grumbled under my breath about the unfairness of having the intrusion cause me discomfort but quickly silenced myself when I remembered the purpose of their self-invited stay. Kageyama was in no state to be alone; he needed to be shown that people were still here for him and not everyone would disappear. I hadn’t heard the entire story of how Kageyama’s middle school friends had left him, but I knew that he still felt the repercussions of their untimely departure from his life._

_I heard the door open and panicked, not moving a muscle aside from a sharp snap of my neck to the door. I saw Kageyama stroll in, seemingly in his own world. He stood in the middle of the room, not looking at anything in particular. Through the fog of the room I could see his glazed over eyes staring at the wall ahead and he remained silent._

_I could practically see the gears in his head turning, trying to process the overload of information he had received through the day. He was not currently in reality and most likely had no idea what he was doing. I had to choke back my automatic harsh comment that formed on my tongue, swallowing it and storing it in the back of my mind to use at a later date (I am only human after all)._

_“Tobio…” I said as calmly as possible, willing my body to cover myself in a feeble attempt to save my dignity. “Please get out.”_

\-----

My school life had changed a lot from that day forward. It was no longer Yamaguchi and I; it was now Yamaguchi, Kageyama and I. Kageyama had somewhat recovered from the shock in his system, latching himself onto Yamaguchi to fill the best friend role in his life. I was thankful he hadn’t latched onto me, knowing I would never be kind enough to give him the care he requires for the times when the Hinata sized hole in his heart showed, aware of the fact that I wouldn’t be as cautious as I was that night at all times.

Having Kageyama around to distract Yamaguchi from his constant chewing of my ear off to distract me from my thoughts has left me more space to examine my thoughts, as well as my surroundings. I had become more aware of the differences in the way he was acting; the way everyone was acting.

Kageyama had begun to sometimes revert back to his old ways of being the King of the Court, even when off court. He would become closed off, guarding himself from everyone who bothered getting close as if they were going to disappear as soon as he allowed them close to him. It was unsurprising, like his mind would forget the pain of losing a friend. But just as easily it would seemingly remind him that no relationship was set in stone and that his heart was on the line.

Yamaguchi remained his cheerful self in the presence of the rest of the team, putting on a brave face. But when he was alone, his act dropped and his worry for the shorter boy shone through his constant checking and typing into his phone. I snuck a quick peak at his phone over his shoulder one day as we were hanging out, watching him repeatedly turn on his lock screen and enter his text messages in case the messages didn’t create a notification. I imagine Daichi was acting similarly, keeping a brave face on for the rest of the team and letting it fall when he is alone. It was difficult to watch Yamaguchi pretend like that, but I only felt out of my depth when it came to trying to cheer him up.

Nishinoya and Tanaka were also acting like Yamaguchi and Daichi, except their attempts at masking were more flawed than the other two. Their joking and messing around still occurred, yet they seem… half-hearted. I could only imagine how they acted when no one was around to fool.

The remaining second years sought to work harder to preserve the memory of Hinata. I recall overhearing Ennoshita explaining to Daichi that they know what not being with the team must feel like for the guy.

Asahi reacted much like the majority of the second years, putting extra effort into becoming the ace that deserved Hinata’s praises. He had always been eager to be taught by Asahi to become Karasuno’s next ace. I suppose diving headfirst into volleyball was a good way to keep his mind off the absence of the shorter boy, even if the lack of his presence would be more prevalent the more time he spent practicing.

Suga was handling things the worst. It puzzled me greatly as to just how bad things were concerning Suga. I knew that Suga cared about each person on the team (even those more difficult to love), but his reaction, which was on par with the early stages of Kageyama’s, felt out of place. He was barely able to keep a neutral face in the company of others majority of the time, a stark contrast to his previously cheery countenance. Whenever I saw the guy he looked like he was on the verge of tears.

As we approached the locker rooms to get changed in preparation for morning practice, the muffled cries of sorrow that whispered from the room caused us to pause our advancements, pulling me from my thoughts and halting the conversation Yamaguchi and Kageyama were partaking in. I could barely hear the sounds over the faint music from my headphones that hung around my neck and was surprised that my two companions heard them at all over their own voices, but I knew that they were definitely not figments of my imagination. I also had a pretty solid idea of who’s pain was being projected quietly into the room.

“Why don’t you two go to the gym and tell Daichi that we will be at practice a little late?”

I didn’t wait for a reply nor see their faces (most likely stunned) before sliding the door open as quietly as possible and closing it behind me, shutting off access to the outside world. I could see the faint outline of a huddled figure that was tucked into the farthest corner and began navigating over to it. As I approached, I cursed myself for being the one to venture into the room to comfort my sobbing senpai. At the time it seemed like a good idea but having pondered over the decision for a few seconds I determined Yamaguchi would be a much choice. He was much better at understanding emotions than me, managing to help Kageyama whenever he was in a slump. I had no such super-power.

“Sugawara-senpai?” I said softly, finally crouching in front of my senpai’s slightly shaking form. “What is the matter?”

At first, I thought he hadn’t heard me or just didn’t want to answer due to the silence that hung about the room. However, the small incoherent mutterings that fell from Suga’s mouth in a repeated fashion whispered into my ears. My hearing, although quite good, was unable to distinguish any proper words of the incoherent speech.

“Sugawara-senpai, please speak up.”

“it’s all my fault. He’d still be here if I had’ve been gentler. If I had’ve listened. He’d be safe. It’s all my fault. Why didn’t I listen? Why did I push him away like that?”

The fast-paced string of words that erupted from the now hyperventilating man flooded my senses, nearly causing my brain to blow a fuse trying to keep up with the flood of words. Why Suga blames himself for the disappearance of Hinata was unknown to me and was likely to remain that way for the time being. It was unlikely that he would find himself in a comfortable enough position to divulge a story like that at a time like this. But…

“Sugawara-senpai?” I began, shifting to sit next to my shorter senpai, resting my back against the wall and awkwardly holding my closest arm around him in a comforting manner. Suga was definitely not comforted in my hold, and I don’t blame him. “Whatever happened between you and Hinata, him going away had nothing to do with you. I am one hundred percent sure of that. You are an amazing senpai and even if you made a terrible mistake that is so inhumanly ginormous, which outweighs every decent thing you have done for everyone around you, which is impossible for you, Hinata is not that kind of person. I’m sure we will find him somehow, and when we do and we bring him home, you’ll see that you weren’t the one to drive him away. And I will personally beat him up if that is the case.”

I was internally screaming, cursing myself for the awful pep talk I had attempted to give my senpai. Suga always seemed to know what to say, able to force Kageyama out of his Kingly habits within the first official practice they had together. He deserved better than the piece of junk I had presented him with.

Yet, as I watched, I saw Suga’s previously shaking form still, ceasing the tears and broken sobs that tore through his body. He lifted his head slowly, showing the glistening tracks that the tears left behind on his cheeks that shone even in the low light. His eyes locked onto mine, carrying a tone of surprise within the orbs before he finally smiled. His smile was genuine and a sight for sore eyes, causing a slight flush to spread through my body in response to the idea that I was able to help him through his dark time; I was able to bring comfort to my senpai.

The sound of a broken sigh filled the room as Suga tilted his head to rest (un)comfortably on my bony shoulder. His smiled slowly slipped off his face, turning into a frown and ruining the happy little break from reality.

“I thought I saw Hinata last night.” Suga recalled. “Daichi and I ran into the Aobajohsai team who were going out for dinner. We had a small conversation with their captain and ace. I began noticing that the ace wasn’t looking at us; his eyes were drawn to the group inside, I quickly glanced inside, and I thought I saw Hinata’s bright hair amongst their group. But they said that they hadn’t seen or heard from him, and they have no reason to lie. Unless-“

A tone sounded from Suga’s phone effectively cutting him off from finishing his story. A frown quickly formed as he quickly made his way over to his phone which was perched on the shelf within his locker. The artificial light shone from his phone onto his face, casting light shadows where the light could not reach.

As he got up in search of his phone, I pondered the possibility that Suga did see Hinata. He seemed to think it wasn’t a figment of his imagination, so what if it wasn’t? Was Hinata at Aobajohsai?

A few moments passed before Suga’s face warped into sheer surprise. His mouth was agape and his whole body was frozen, causing me to slowly push myself to a standing position before walking over to my senpai, slightly concerned by his reaction. When I was within an arm reach, I stopped, giving him privacy if he so desired, but before my mouth could form any words, Suga’s overjoyed shrill of unexpected relief and joy flooded the room with one word:

“SHOYO!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Hello my lovely cherubs!
> 
> I hoped you enjoyed this chapter more than I enjoyed writing it. This chapter was the hardest chapter I had to write so far, going through at least 3 complete rewrites. I think I had so much trouble because my boyfriend of nearly three years and I are no longer together and I am not going so well mentally. But I found inspiration to write and here it is in all of it's glory, so I really hope it's alright!
> 
> Also found out that all of my italics and bolding wasn't happening so I have just fixed that up!
> 
> Question of the chapter:
> 
> Is there a character you don't like or haven't liked in the past (which you have since warmed up to)?
> 
> For me, it was Ushijima. The first time I watched it I disliked him so much. But now I actually really like him and feel silly for ever disliking him.
> 
> All of your POV suggestions will be seen in the coming chapters. I am going to try and do a chapter under each character that was suggested!
> 
> Just wanted to reach out to you all and let you know that I am here if anyone needs someone to talk to. It has been crazy lately and I think we all need to try and stay strong during this tough time.
> 
> Love you guys!
> 
> Piece v(￣ｰ￣)v


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few moments passed before Suga's face warped into sheer surprise. His mouth was agape and his whole body was frozen, causing me to slowly push myself to a standing position before walking over to my senpai, slightly concerned by his reaction. When I was within an arm reach, I stopped, giving him privacy if he so desired, but before my mouth could form any words, Suga's overjoyed shrill of unexpected relief and joy flooded the room with one word:
> 
> "SHOYO!"

(Kyotani POV)

The crispness of the morning nipped at my exposed skin on my face and neck. The sun was just peaking over the horizon, yet the magnificent sight was blocked by buildings, only allowing me, and the rest of the team if they liked that kind of thing, to admire the lightening of the sky. A mixture of oranges and yellows painted the sky and danced through the few clouds that littered it. The air, although cold, was a refreshing and well-needed change to the cramped, disgusting air I had woken up surrounded by. It smelt of boys and sweat; disgusting.

I hadn’t wanted to drain my social battery by spending all weekend surrounded by the team, preferring to stay home and watch some volleyball tournaments or practice by myself. Yet when Oikawa, who has no real authority over me except in his dreams, told me to come over to convince the little stray I had taught serving to the previous day to join the team, I found it hard to say no.

My stray (yes, mine) had a lot of potential hidden under a vast amount of inexperience. His reflexes and speed were incredible, and even just helping with a small jump serve, I could tell the kid could fly high. I’m not sure what drew me to him, but I found myself teaching him to serve that day before I could even register my body was moving. His entire demeanour was luring me into him, twisting my mind to see him as my very first student. He was changing me, even with the limited time I had known him. Never in a million years would I have attended team building sessions such as this weekend, yet agreed so willingly for him, without him even knowing. And I was somewhat glad I did.

I vaguely heard the doors to the apartment building open, and I had barely turned toward the noise before my stray was colliding into me with a force that would’ve knocked me over if he were taller. I managed to remain upright, catching him easily with one arm thanks to his entire body wrapping itself easily around me, not unlike a baby monkey would cling to its mother.

“Good morning Kyotani-kun!” He laughed in my ear before quickly detaching himself from me and jumping around the group and greeting each person, with the exception of Kunimi who had retrieved him from his apartment and walked with him to the meeting point just outside the building. I couldn’t help the small smile that fought its way onto my mouth. _I was greeted first, so I was most important. Obviously._

“Chibi-chan!” I heard Oikawa whine pathetically, causing my smile to disappear in wake of the annoyance that emerged along with a small scoff. “Why didn’t I get greeted first? I’m your Captain now, so I should always be put first.” I was happy to watch Iwaizumi slap Oikawa upside his head, mentally committing that sight to my long-term memory, along with the other mental videos of Oikawa getting put in his place (mainly by Iwaizumi).

“Oikawa-san, you have to wait your turn.” Hinata called out before returning to greeting a slightly flustered Watari who was struggling to hold the slightly shorter boy after having been attacked similarly to me.

This side of Hinata, the abundantly happy and energetic side, was like seeing a completely different person compared to yesterday. It was difficult to see him break down like he did on those two occasions; when he first arrived in Kunimi’s penthouse and at the restaurant. I turned from the group and stared down the road toward the restaurant we had attended. My mind wandered to when we had just arrived at the restaurant and those strangers caused a panic.

\-----

_I was silent, standing beside Hinata out of the way of the group as they spoke with the waitress about our reservation. It was hot in the restaurant, especially compared to outside and even more so thanks to the piggyback race I had easily won. My heart was still racing, and my skin was still burning the sweat off it. I looked outside, contemplating stepping back out until I had somewhat cooled down to make myself more comfortable._

_I saw Oikawa and Iwaizumi still outside, looking quite recovered from the race, which was unsurprising since they didn’t even try to win. I was about to join them outside when I noticed the slight side eye Iwaizumi was sending inside and the slightly uncomfortable look on both of their faces. Oikawa remained looking forward, frowning slightly. I followed his gaze down the street further and saw two other teenagers, around their age, holding each other quite closely. I became confused as to what those two boys had to do with anything and why Iwaizumi’s eyes kept flicking toward the group, more specifically in my direction._

_I was brought back to Earth by Hinata’s movements as he seemed to place me between him and the view of the two strangers. He tugged on my arm gently, silently asking me to bend slightly. I tried to be as discrete as possible, bending my knees slowly and leaning slightly so that he could reach my ear comfortably._

_“Please get me away from the window.” He whispered, shrinking behind me, eyes fixed on the group outside._

_I was confused but nodded nonetheless. I swiftly turned and led him toward the back of the restaurant, holding his shoulders to ensure he stayed out of the line of sight of the windows as much as possible. Dodging tables and other people while trying to keep Hinata covered from sight was difficult, but he was thankfully tiny, and we made it to the back of the restaurant and took refuge in the bathroom without any issues._

_I opened the door from behind Hinata and let him enter quickly. I turned back and glanced outside and was greeted by two pairs of eyes looking in my direction. One pair belonged to Iwaizumi, and the other belonged to the shorter, grey haired boy. His face donned a frown, big enough to be seen by me from over 20 metres away. I turned quickly, breaking the eye contact and joining Hinata in the safety of the room._

_“I’m sorry Hinata-san.” I spoke, pushing the door so that it closed faster. “I think the grey-haired one saw you.”_

_“Suga-san saw?” He asked, eyes widened and voice raised quite significantly. His hands began rubbing up and down his arms as if he was cold, but it looked quite a bit rougher than necessary and contained far too much nail. His feet carried him the length of the room, pacing erratically before me. His mouth was moving a million miles an hour, yet barely any noise was reaching my ears only a few metres away._

_“Hey Hinata.” I said, approaching him slowly with my hands outstretched in front of me to try and ensure him that I wasn’t going to cause him any harm. “It’s going to be alright. Iwaizumi and Oikawa won’t let them come to you. You are safe in here.”_

_He stopped pacing, opting instead to walk over to the furthest sink and let his hands clutch at its side. He was rocking back and forth on his feet, hands clenching and unclenching quickly. I don’t know which I preferred; the pacing or the breaking of the basin. He looked close to vomiting, with a pale complexion and forceful gulps every few seconds, causing me to feel very inadequate and unprepared to be helping him through this state. I knew that either Iwaizumi or Oikawa would come searching for us sooner or later, but I was lost as to what to do until then._

_“Who were they?” I spluttered out without thinking, internally cringing at my own incompetence. I may not know how to calm someone down, but apparently, I am stupid enough to not know that bringing up the issue doesn’t help._

_Hinata stilled but stayed silent, only letting the puffs of air forcefully being pushed from his lungs making any noise. His eyes were hard and the focus completely gone, staring at nothing in particular, as if he was reliving a bad memory. It made my blood boil to think that the people outside were responsible for Hinata experiencing something that makes him turn this panicked. I opened my mouth to tell him not to worry about answering me but was cut off by Hinata’s head coming up quickly from it’s hanging position. His eyes, although remaining hard, were no longer unfocused. They were clear and determined instead, staring straight into his own reflection._

_“They are the captain and vice-captain of my old volleyball team.” He answered, voice shaky but dripping with determination._

_“I see.” I answered, leaning against the wall beside him, thankful that he was accepting of my terrible consoling efforts shining through. “And why are you hiding from them?”_

_“They don’t know I transferred to Aobajohsai. I didn’t tell my team I was leaving. I just… left.”_

_“Why didn’t you tell them?”_

_He let out a shaky sigh, letting his head fall back toward the floor. “They can’t know. Especially not Suga-san. They’d never understand; they would blame themselves. It is safer too, for them not to know. They can’t know.”_

_“They can never know what?”_

_His gaze snapped up to my own, eyes filled with tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. I immediately regretted pressing him for more information and was about to tell him to not answer when I was interrupted again. Upon the opening of the door, both of our bodies tensed harshly. Hinata’s gaze fell back to the basin and my own snapped toward the door to find Iwaizumi’s face peeking into the room. I sighed silently, knowing that Hinata was in much better hands now, but couldn’t help but wonder…_

\-----

What was he hiding from his old team? And by extension, what was he hiding from us?

I was brought back to reality by a particularly loud giggle erupting from Hinata, making me worry for the sleeping residents of the apartment building we were still situated a few metres in front of. Too bad if they wanted to have a sleep in on this Sunday morning, much like me.

Hinata was now atop of Oikawa’s shoulders, pointing forward as if he was a captain of his own brigade and leading his men on a charge to battle. Oikawa was happily giggling along with Hinata and began to lead the group in the direction of the school, leaving his bag to be retrieved by Iwaizumi who was growling at Oikawa to be quieter (even though Hinata was definitely being louder, but who could blame him; Hinata is pretty much impossible to growl at).

My feet carried me along with the group, staying at the tail walking near Yahaba. I awkwardly adjusted my training bag on my shoulder, feeling the tension that hung between us. I knew he didn’t like me, if the way he treats me during training was any indication, and that was fine with me. He was shallow, much like Oikawa; pretty much a second-year version of Oikawa. Perhaps it’s a setter thing.

“Are you alright, Kyotani-san?” He asked, most likely trying to make small talk in the relatively short trip to the school.

I scoffed harshly. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

He sighed just as harshly, turning a frowning face to look directly into my eyes. “Listen, Kyotani-san. I get you don’t enjoy a lot of the team. You have made that abundantly clear to us all during training, but you could at least try to become a part of the team.” He paused and glanced in Hinata’s direction, watching as he conversed with Iwaizumi whilst still atop of Oikawa shoulders. “We have a real shot at winning against Shiratorizawa now that we have you and Hinata-san on the team, as much as I hate to say. If your lack of teamwork slings mud on our upperclassmen’s big game, I’ll never forgive you, and neither will Hinata. He means a lot to you, so I imagine being in his good books is something you want. So use that as inspiration to get your head out of your ass.”

I remained silent as he walked away, starting a conversation with Watari as if he hadn’t just trash-talked me. But I couldn’t argue with anything he had said. It was true that I didn’t like the team that much. It was true that with Hinata now on our team we were more likely to beat Shiratorizawa and go to nationals. And it was true that he meant a lot to me.

“You know.” A voice spoke from beside me, causing me to jump and almost smack Iwaizumi in the face for appearing out of thin air. “Volleyball is a team sport. You could have strong players individually, but ultimately the strongest team of six wins, no matter how good each player is by themselves.”

I grunted in response, knowing that he was right as well. Knowing they were right didn’t magically make team spirit start flowing through my veins, but it did help with the dampening of the fire of hatred toward the team slightly. Perhaps there was more to these people than what could be seen at first glance, even if that first glance was that they were self-centred arse-hats. I mean Yahaba turned out to have a not shallow side to him, and he just seemed like a carbon copy of Oikawa.

My eyes turned to watch the captain as he continued to mess around with Hinata at the front of the group. Yes, the setter had his moments of brilliant seriousness, especially on the volleyball court in an official game, but he spent most of his time goofing off like he was doing in that moment. _Does he have a deeper side too?_

“Toru is quite different to how he appears.” Iwaizumi continued, as if reading my mind. “You can trust him. I wouldn’t be friends with the idiot if he was that childish on the inside. I’m sure he’d like to know about how Hinata was last night before I came to get you both.”

With that, Iwaizumi quickly made his way to the front of the group, leaning down to Hinata and whispering in his ear. Seconds later the two of them took off running, leaving an instantly mopey Oikawa in their wake, shouting out his confusion and sadness of being excluded from their spontaneous race. Before I could stop my body, it was weaving through the group roughly, arm stretching out to grasp Oikawa’s shoulder. He turned to face me at the touch of his shoulder, confusion written clearly on his face.

“Oikawa-san. Iwaizumi said I should talk to you about what happened between Hinata and I last night. In the bathro- This sounds worse than it is I swear…”

\-----

“He thinks that they won’t be safe if he tells them why he left?”

“Yes.”

Oikawa hummed thoughtfully, his finger tapping against his lips as he gazed up at the sky, searching for the answers as if they were written in the heavens. “That could make it difficult for him to open up to us and let us know what is happening. If he is fearing for his old teams’ safety due to his circumstances that would explain why he hasn’t spoken to us about it yet.”

“What do we do?”

“I’m not sure there is anything we can do at the moment. Our relationship with him is just beginning so we don’t want to push things at the moment. The ball is in his court and until he is comfortable enough to discuss the situation with us, we just need to follow his lead.”

“But if the situation is as dangerous as it sounds, we can’t just let him suffer through it.”

“You are right of course but meddling without knowing the full picture will most likely do more harm than good. For the moment we need to simply work on building a relationship with him to become stronger so that he sees us as trustworthy when the time comes that he needs our help, if that time comes at all.”

I sighed. The whole situation was frustrating but speaking to Oikawa about it and hearing his plan on how we should tackle the delicacy of the circumstances we found ourselves with was somewhat calming. It was odd how different Oikawa became when he was faced with something so serious, as if he let his mask drop slightly to break his façade of the childish captain everyone saw him as. Perhaps he was different to how he seemed on the outside, hiding his true self from the world.

“You know what Oikawa-san?” I said as we stepped foot into the locker room to prepare ourselves for practice. “You aren’t as much of an idiotic arse-wipe as I thought you were.”

I sauntered away, heading toward the fluff of orange hair that hid in the far corner of the room, barely hearing the slightly sarcastic “Gee thanks” that followed after me. I felt much more confident in what I should be doing to help the young stray after talking with Oikawa and it was a little freaky.

I made it across the room to Hinata, observing his tense body and phone clenched tightly in his hands. His elbows rested on his knees as he leant forward, staring at the floor, not with intensity, but with uncertainty. I sat on the cold bench beside him but remained silent. I reminded myself of Oikawa’s advice, giving Hinata the opportunity to take the reins and tell me what he needed. But after everyone but Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Hinata and I had left the locker room and he hadn’t said anything, my eyes locked onto Oikawa’s from across the room. He surveyed the small boy that was perched beside me before he leaned over to Iwaizumi and whispered in his ear.

Iwaizumi’s gaze lingered on Hinata’s form for a few moments before he left, most likely to begin taking the game through a thorough warm up. Hinata’s body hadn’t moved from it’s spot on the bench during the interaction between the two older boys, now when Oikawa crossed the room and crouched before him.

“Hinata-kun, what’s wrong?” I asked quietly, trying my best to come across as unthreatening as possible.

“I talked to Iwaizumi-senpai about what happened last night, and he suggested messaging someone on the team to let them know I was okay since they seemed worried last night.” He replied just as quietly.

“I think that’s a good idea Chibi-chan.” Oikawa encouraged sweetly, proving even more so that he is not the shallow guy I had previously assumed he was. “Sugawara seemed especially worried for your wellbeing. Perhaps you could send a message to him?”

“You wouldn’t have to tell them anything except that you are okay.” I added, remembering our talk in the bathroom last night.

Hinata relaxed slightly at the soft words we spoke to him. The probably seemed loud to him considering the deafening silence that took over the locker room whenever no one was talking, but those quiet words of encouragement seemed to be what he needed. He unlocked his phone quickly, as if to do it before he chickened out, and opened his text messages, but his fingers faltered over the keyboard as he opened his messages to his ex-vice-captain. Oikawa, noticing the hesitation, held his hand out gently.

“I could write a message for you if you’d like.” He offered. “Then if you like it, we can send it. You don’t have to do anything by yourself anymore; we are here to help you, alright?”

Hinata looked up at Oikawa as the older tucked a stray hair behind the younger’s ear, giving me a good side profile of his face. His glassy eyes stared up at Oikawa’s kind and loving gaze, letting his phone drop into his awaiting hand without looking away. Hinata’s eyes remained on Oikawa’s face as he bent his head to work on a message to send to Suga. There was something alike awe in his eyes; something I couldn’t put a finger on. It was probably just friendly surprise, as if he didn’t expect Oikawa to offer his help with such a small and simple thing as this.

“How’s this?” Oikawa asked a few moments later, flipping the phone back into Hinata’s hands. I leant over my stray’s shoulder to gaze at the carefully constructed message that sat drafted in his phone.

 ** **To:**** Suga!

[Draft] Hey Suga-senpai. I just wanted you to know that I am alright. I can’t tell you anything at the moment but thought that you would probably prefer to know that I am safe. I’m sorry for leaving without telling you all and hope you can pass on my wellbeing status to the rest of the team. I hope that you all understand and forgive me. I miss you all so much.

“How did you know I missed them that much?” Hinata asked quietly, holding his phone to his chest.

“You seem like that kind of person Chibi-chan.” Oikawa stated in a matter-of-fact voice before I could even think about answering. “And it is kind of the gift of the team to be able to read the heck out of people so we can be as effective as possible against the other team. We will teach you how to be able to read people, if you want.”

Hinata gave a small nod before bringing his phone away from his chest, pressing the send button on the message Oikawa wrote for him. He brought his gaze back to Oikawa’s and greeted Oikawa’s warm smile with his own small, grateful one. I couldn’t help feeling like I was being completely ignored; probably because I was.

Nothing was said as Oikawa stood from his crouched position in front of Hinata, offering his hand to the smaller boy to help him up. Hinata accepted his helping hand and was pulled up smoothly. I pushed myself off the bench and awkwardly trailed the duo out of the locker room, watching as Oikawa rested his arm over the other boy’s shoulders.

I couldn’t help but feel like I was missing something from that entire interaction; _what just happened?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Hey my cherubs!
> 
> I have found that writing has been a good calming method for me at the moment so I have been writing a lot more than normal. Thus this chapter was born! I hope you like it!
> 
> Question of the chapter:
> 
> Which character do you think represents you best?
> 
> I think my friend Rachel agrees that I am pretty much a female version of Oikawa, and I couldn't be happier.
> 
> I know that the character developments and attitudes differ slightly from the original source, but I hope you guys don't mind too much. I am trying to not make the differences too big, but had to tweak some things to fit the story.
> 
> I have been neglecting my university work, so I may be catching up with that for a while. I am not sure when the next update will come, but I hope it's not too long.
> 
> Also, would anyone hate me writing a new story after this one based around Eren x Levi from Attack on Titan? I have an idea in my mind, but I want to focus on one at a time so I don't neglect either of them.
> 
> Love you guys!
> 
> Piece v(￣ｰ￣)v


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something from that entire interaction; what just happened?

(Kunimi POV)

I could feel his eyes on me, searing into my skin, making the back of my neck tingle with a phantom heat. The intensity of the itch that the stare caused on my neck seemed to increase whenever Oikawa’s serves curved toward me, becoming almost distracting. I was barely able to jump my feet into a lightly grounded position, right foot and then left in a skipping motion, to receive the incoming ball with as much ease as the ridiculous speed and strength allowed. I watched the ball sail only slightly off course, still landing in the basket that sat where the setter would be positioned. I gritted my teeth covertly, acknowledging to myself that Oikawa was trying to push me to try harder.

My typical, laid-back approach to training was thoroughly compromised today, especially during our receiving drills. With the constant eyes absorbing all the information my body was emitting whenever I received a ball, as well as Oikawa’s increasingly annoying pushing to extract every inch of effort from me, lazing about was no longer an option today. I looked over to Oikawa, locking eyes with him, achieving a neutral expression to cover the annoyance that would otherwise be occupying my face.

That moment of eye contact was enough for him to pass on his apologies for pushing me so hard. It’s not that I didn’t understand why he was pushing so hard; a mixture of wanting to improve the team so we a guaranteed a ticket to nationals and giving Hinata an opportunity to see proper technique to encourage him to strive for improvement without being prompted. He pushed the others in the areas that they were proficient in as well; I wasn’t special. It doesn’t mean the extra effort wasn’t annoying or make me want to try harder.

The back of my neck was no longer tingling as I took my exit from the court, retrieving my water bottle before joining Kindaichi on the sidelines. I watched Hinata as he prepared himself to try and receive Oikawa’s serve. His small frame didn’t stop moving, jumping up and down with his feet constantly rebounding off the floor as if it were burning the soles of his feet. With his centre of mass constantly shifting, he was going to have a lot of trouble receiving the ball. A sliver of discontent escaped my mouth in the form of a quiet sigh as I silently prayed that he wasn’t trying to copy my technique. I didn’t look like I had ants in my pants, surely.

It didn’t surprise me when Oikawa opted for not sending an arm-ripping jump serve to Hinata, sending a weaker one that would be easier to pick up due to its slower speed. Nor did it surprise me that the ball deflected from Hinata’s awaiting arms to greet his unprepared face. It also didn’t surprise me when he proceeded to fall flat on his ass. The ball cruelly bounced toward me, stopping just short of my feet.

Hinata’s face was flushed almost as red as his hair with embarrassment from being hit in the face again with a volleyball. I didn’t blame him; getting hit in the face with a volleyball and proceeding to fall over both times before the first practice was over would be embarrassing for the guy, especially considering he comes from a fast-improving school such as Karasuno. I picked up the ball that lay at my feet and made my way over to Hinata’s form that was still stuck to the floor, noting how the subtle advancements that Oikawa was making in his direction was halted when he saw me approaching him.

“You are meant to receive with just your arms.” I stated simply, peering down at the boy through my lashes, not offering my hand to assist in his return to his feet. “Your face isn’t meant to get involved, boke.”

Hinata’s face dropped suddenly, the red draining from his face and becoming pale. His eyes widened and dropped to the ground instantly, staring in the direction of his fiddling fingers which were wriggling in his lap to let out his unexpected nervous energy. I was thrown off by his sudden tension, rewinding through what I said. _Was I too harsh?_ Regret grew within me as I wished I had’ve thought about what we already knew about Hinata’s situation.

Hinata’s tense form was stiffly brought to its feet without a single utterance or glance toward me as he plucked the ball from my frozen hands and rolled it over to a worrying Oikawa. I gave props to the captain, acknowledging how hard it is for him to keep his distant when it was obvious that one of his team is upset. No matter what other teams may say about him, Oikawa really knows how to bring out the best in his team, both on and off the court. By staying away, he was telling me that he trusted me to handle it, boosting my confidence that took a hit from upset Hinata in the first place.

“You are moving too much before the ball comes.” I stated quietly, reaching out to grab Hinata’s shoulder and turn him to face me so I could show him the proper technique. “Limit yourself to one step each foot for now to make sure your grounding isn’t stiff. And your arms are moving too much when the ball contacts them. Use your whole body to direct the ball instead.”

With my demonstration complete I took my leave, escaping the responsibility of cheering Hinata up again and making my way to stand beside Kindaichi. He had an amused look upon his face, willing the urge to slap him to grow impossibly large.

“Kunimi has a new best friend!” he whispered in my ear.

“Shut it.” I growled, harshly elbowing him directly in his diaphragm to wind him. “I was just helping him improve his volleyball because Oikawa wanted me to.”

“Interesting…” Kindaichi wheezed out as he clutched his injured stomach. “You seem to be such an obedient puppy for Oikawa when it involves the little tangerine.”

I ignored his teasing, knowing that rebutting his statements would simply encourage him to tease further. My eyes turned forward to watch Hinata’s form as he prepared to receive another serve. His eyes were focused on Oikawa’s serve while his body remained calm and steady, a complete contrast to the previous receive. He only lifted his feet into a skip, resembling my own, just after the ball connected with Oikawa’s hand, getting into a more relaxed position. His form allowed his movements to flow seamlessly into one another as he got behind the trajectory of the ball.

The ball connected to his arms and, with a gentle nudge, he sent the ball in the direction of the basket that was placed where the setter would typically be found. All eyes were on the ball as it soared through the air in the direction of the basket, and the release of a collective groan as the ball barely missed, skimming the outside edge in a mocking gesture.

“Don’t mind Chibi-chan!” Oikawa called out from the opposite side of the court, ducking under the net and making his way over to the shorter boy. He ruffled his hair playfully and sent him a bright grin as encouragement. “That was a huge improvement on receiving with your face! Well done! I definitely would’ve been able to get under that ball with ease! Shall we try a few more?”

Hinata’s face finally lit up, greedily drinking Oikawa’s praises and promise for more volleyball. Whatever I said that had bugged him was now removed from his mind and was replaced with volleyball. I let out a breath I didn’t realise I was holding, accepting the secret smile of thanks that Oikawa sent my way as he returned to the opposite side of the court with a slight nod of my head. I let my mind flick through the folders of information I kept on Hinata, diligently trying to complete the puzzle of what had bothered Hinata.

\-----

I hiked my training bag further onto my shoulder as it began sliding from its previous position. Oikawa and Iwaizumi were leading the way to the entrance, engrossed in their own private conversations, followed closely by Matsukawa and Hanamaki who were attracting the wandering eyes from our leaders with their highly animated conversation (something to do with sushi from what I could hear). The second years, plus a much too energetic Hinata, followed not too far behind them, leaving Kindaichi and I to bring up the rear. We walked in silence, contrasting the rest of the group, allowing us to simply observe our surroundings.

The entrance gate came into view as we rounded the main building and, as usual, my eyes locked onto the route to freedom to eat and have a nap. Oikawa’s unrelenting encouragement for me to participate through the entire practice made my desires for sustenance and some shuteye so much greater than my mortal body could handle. However, my road to some chicken nuggets and sleep was shadowed by three figures that leant against the stone wall. It took a moment for my mind to register the figures, but my body reacted quickly once the realisation settled in. I grabbed Kindaichi’s arm, who seemed to be oblivious to our uninvited guests that awaited us, and dragged him to the second years, positioning us directly behind Hinata.

“Hinata-san.” I whispered, moving my lips the bare minimum for my words to be understood. “We have some company waiting for us at the gate.”

I kept my eyes forward but could feel his questioning gaze that transferred from up at me to past the second years that were situated in front of him. The remainder of the group peered in the direction of the gate and immediately placed themselves in a protective huddle around Hinata, effectively creating a human shield around him, blocking his view before he had a chance to see who it was. Thankfully before Hinata could speak a word about our seemingly odd behaviour and the unfairness of our height, Oikawa’s voice rang through the air, dripping in his usual false happiness that he uses when he converses with someone he doesn’t like.

“Tobio-chan! To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“Tsukishima, you asshole.” Kageyama sighed dejectedly, catching me off guard.

“You are quite quick to jump to conclusions my King.” Tsukishima shot back half-heartedly, his eyes remaining glued to his phone as he idly scrolled in a rhythmic and repetitive motion. “As your ever-loyal servant, I would surely not have had you drag us all the way here if I wasn’t sure he was here.”

The remaining boy that stood with them said nothing, hardly even recognising the exchanging of insults from his companions. His eyes kept sliding from side to side atop his prominently defined freckles, obviously scanning the group for a certain orange haired boy. His eyes came to a rest on our group, eyebrows screwing together in thought, but he remained silent.

“Tobio-chan, if you are trying to spy on how amazing we are to determine whether we will wipe the floor against you again, we just finished. Besides, there is no need to scope our potential. I can tell you right now that you can kiss the chance of going to spring national’s goodbye, since we are the ones who are going to be heading to Tokyo. So, it’s no value for you to be stalking our practices, as much as we are flattered by your acknowledgement that we are amazing enough to stalk in the first place.” Oikawa’s voice was teasing, drawing the two bickering Karasuno players attention to him.

“Not that you are correct in the slightest, but that isn’t why we are here.” Tsukishima drawled, pushing himself from the wall he was leaning on and stalking toward Oikawa, stopping only a few feet from him. “You know why we are here.”

“Sorry to say French fry, but I have no idea what you are talking about.” Oikawa lied smoothly, meeting the tall blonde’s eyes, completely unintimidated by the height the younger had over him. The golden gaze that travelled down his nose that locked onto Oikawa’s chocolate gaze were intense, searching his orbs for any hints of untruthfulness.

“Why is it I don’t believe you, _Oikawa-senpai_?” He asked coolly, speaking Oikawa’s name with a sneering undertone.

“Watch your tone underclassman.” Hanamaki hissed, stepping slightly in front of Oikawa as an act in his defense, still leaving him room to fight back on his own. His action was mimicked by the remaining two third years, defending Oikawa’s name without wounding his honour.

“Give us back our teammate and I’ll think about it.”

“We don’t know what you are talking about.” Iwaizumi growled out sharply.

I watched the scene unfolding in front of me, noting how the freckled boy’s gaze remained on the wall of bodies that surrounded Hinata’s small figure. I wasn’t stupid enough to think that the small boy wouldn’t be seen within the group considering there was only five of us surrounding him but having us surrounding him would let him know we were there to back him up. I let my eyes flicker down to the small boy.

His side profile didn’t give me a lot to go off of but judging by how wide his eyes were blown and his slightly ajar mouth, he wasn’t taking the sudden appearance of his ex-teammates well. I found myself reached out and gripping his shoulder as an effort to comfort him. Upon contacting with his shoulder, he immediately began shuffling backward until half of his back was plastered to half of my front. I struggled to ignore the trembles that shook through his body as he kept his eyes forward with ill focus, unable to even see the second years that stood barely a step in front of us.

“We aren’t stupid.” Growled Tsukishima, exceeding the ferocity of Iwaizumi. “Sugawara-san saw him with you all last night. You can deny it all you want, but we aren’t stupid, so let us see him.”

“We just want to talk to him.” Kageyama whispered, remaining uncharacteristically quietly.

I took in Kageyama’s appearance, noting the slight disgruntled and messy touches that were littering him; the few stray hairs that usually stayed perfectly in place, darkened under-eyes, paler than usual complexion. He looked as if he was extremely worried for his little friend and I found myself feeling bad for the guy. The question of why Hinata would leave his team without a word broke to the forefront of my mind, followed closely by why we were preventing them from seeing him. Taking in the sullen physicality of the trio in front of us, I was sure that they had nothing to do with why Hinata had left. Hinata hiding from them didn’t fit the puzzle that I was diligently trying to solve in my mind.

“Shoyo.” The green-haired boy called quietly and abruptly, eyes not leaving the group. “I know you are there; I can see your feet.”

Hinata’s trembling increased exponentially as he hurried to back away from the perceived threat; that threat being found by the Karasuno trio. He pushed into me more as if to disappear into my body to hide, yet I found myself unable to move, keeping him rooted in the middle of the group with my grip on his shoulder. _These people were his friends. He shouldn’t be hiding from them. They’ve not done anything wrong surely._

Hinata seemed to realise that he was unable to escape out of the situation past me, stopping his incessive pressing onto me. If he had looked up, I didn’t notice, opting to keep my eyes elsewhere to avoid the question that would inevitably be held within his eyes; elsewhere meaning Kageyama’s face. I knew he would be confused, but I couldn’t make myself help to tear apart another of Kageyama’s friendships, especially one that meant so much to him. Hinata could hate me all he wanted, but Kageyama, and by default his teammates, deserved an explanation and the friendship that he possessed with them.

Hinata’s movement was unbelievably fast, breaking from my grip and the protective circle that surrounding him, reaching Oikawa side in a mere second. He gripped onto the older boy like a frightened child would grip their mother, visibly shaking with tears threatening to spill from his eyes, yet I felt no remorse for him. Oikawa, initially shaken by the unexpected appearance of the small boy at his side, quickly wrapped a protective arm around him, tucking him closer to him and whispering into his hair too quietly for me to hear.

“Hinata.” A broken voice wobbled from Kageyama as he stared at the shorter boy with tears flowing freely from his blue eyes. His legs wobbled as much as his voice, barely holding himself up as he began to step toward Hinata. “What…”

“So, he finally makes an appearance.” Tsukishima sarcastically stated, stepping toward the shaking figure only to be stopped by Iwaizumi’s form, positioned between him and his target, and the skilful change of position of Oikawa’s body.

“Shoyo, what’s going on?” Yamaguchi asked tenderly, taking a cautious step closer as well. “Why did you leave without telling us anything? We could’ve helped you.”

“You guys can’t be here.” Hinata mumbled into Oikawa’s side, remaining glued to his left side, half hidden behind his larger form.

Tsukishima clicked his tongue in annoyance, glancing over Iwaizumi’s shoulder and into Hinata’s eyes with a honey coloured look that could kill. “You kind of lost the right to tell any of us what to do when you left without a word to any of us.”

“I didn’t want to have to leave you all in the dark… I just-“

“Do you even think about how you have effected everyone else? How simply disappearing would affect us all?” His expression darkened tenfold as he leant into Iwaizumi’s personal space to get closer to Hinata. “What disappearing after your conversation with your precious Suga-san would cause **him** to think and react? Not that you would care, but I suppose you ought to know it is your fault that he is struggling how he is.”

I watched Hinata’s demeanour flicker with between anger, sadness and pain at the mention of one of his ex-teammates. He no longer hid himself behind Oikawa, still remaining close to his side. “Don’t speak of things you don’t know of Tsukishima.” Hinata growled dangerously.

“Oh, but I know more than you would care to know Hinata. While you were too busy running away, I was there helping him understand why everything was happening; giving him a shoulder to lean on.”

“What happened between Sugawara-san and I is; one, none of your business; and two, irrelevant to why I had to leave without a word.”

“You made it my business when I had to find Suga-san crying himself to sickness, distraught by the notion of being the reason behind everything. He blames himself for how you have been reacting. Ever since then you haven’t been yourself, don’t think no one fucking noticed, and it doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together. And then, when you couldn’t deal with the fact that things didn’t turn out the way you wanted; you ran. You can’t bullshit me with fake excuses that try and cover up that you couldn’t handle being rejected by him.”

“No, that’s not-“

“Don’t FUCKING interrupt me! You had your chance to talk for the past few weeks! It’s my turn now! You are a selfish, low life that thinks of no one but himself, but we are giving you an opportunity to show you aren’t. You are coming with us so that you can apologise for being a complete, self-serving asshole. After you’ve done that, you can fuck right off out of our lives because we don’t want a heartless **monster** in our family. The only reason you are even getting an opportunity to set things somewhat right is that Sugawara-san needs this closure from you. So get your ass over-“

The harsh echo of sneakers slapping against the concrete in the opposite direction of the Karasuno trio cut the tallest boy from his rant.

“Wait! WAIT! HINATA! Please…” Kageyama cried as he attempted to chase after the disappearing figure already so far in the distance. He fell to his knees right by me, allowing the tears to freely fall from his eyes, his face contorted in pain as if he was being stabbed in the back, which he was in a way I suppose. Under the choked sobs that escaped his mouth, he mumbled one sentence that only I seemed to hear, causing my heart to drop into my stomach and that instantly made me hate Hinata for running from him, just as I had done the previous year.

“I can’t lose you too…”

The group remained in their places, with the exception of the green haired boy moving to offer emotional support to Kageyama’s trembling figure, unsure of how to react. Thankfully the street we stood on didn’t have a lot of traffic that made a show of the intense altercation and uncomfortable silence that remained afterward; merely a lone man walking in the same direction Hinata ran off in, and a lady pushing a pram in the opposite way.

“That was completely uncalled for!” Kyotani finally burst out with, glaring over to Tsukishima who looked indifferently in the direction of Hinata’s exit.

“I’m not sure about that. It was all true.” Tsukishima drawled, unmoving.

“You are one big, salty French fry, aren’t you?” Oikawa asked, unsuccessfully trying to hide the lacing of his words with the anger he was inevitably overflowing with in order to be polite.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Tsukishima shot back, matching Oikawa’s tone with impressive accuracy.

“Alright, alright.” The freckled boy interjected nervously. “Let’s calm down a little bit. It’s obvious that we all care about Hinata and are worried for him-“

“Some less obvious than others.” I heard Kindaichi mumble under his breath, sending a pointed glare in the direction of the blonde boy.

“-so why don’t we call a truce and get along for Hinata’s sake?”

“I understand why you are concerned and such,” Oikawa spoke, turning in the direction Hinata took off in, giving the group his back, “but Sho-chan is our teammate now. We won’t be breaking his trust in any way to tell you things he obviously isn’t comfortable with you knowing as of yet. You came here for answers, but the only answer you are leaving with is that he is here, even though he didn’t want you to even know that. I’m sorry, but you are going to have to leave him and trust that we will take care of him. He is our teammate now afterall.”

Without another word, he began to lead the team away from the situation. I was hesitant to follow unlike the rest of the team; hesitant to leave Kageyama in tears. A flood of happy memories of my best friend from middle school, before he began trying to rule the court, keeping my feet planted. It physically hurt to pull myself away from him, going against all instincts to right my wrongs of leaving him back when I had abandoned him previously.

After a few metres I glanced back at the trio, observing the blonde picking Kageyama up gentler than I expected. Once Kageyama was standing he shrugged off the taller, furiously stomping away from his companions and further from me. The green haired boy said something to the blonde before turning and following after Kageyama. Tsukishima remained where he stood for a few seconds before putting his headphones over his ears and taking off after his friends.

\-----

I followed Iwaizumi and Oikawa over to the elevator of my home. I didn’t need to ask why they were coming into the apartment building when the group dispersed, knowing they were on their way up to check on Hinata. The doors opened to reveal none-other than Hinata’s mother, but she exited the elevator without even acknowledging our presence. As we entered the small box, I scanned my key card over the sensor before pressing my floor number, not planning on joining my captain and vice-captain. Oikawa send me a look of disapproval, badly covered by a look of indifference, before he pushed Hinata’s floor number himself.

The entire situation made no sense to me, contributing to my reluctance to want anything to do with our newest member. Whilst Hinata’s silence on the pressing issues was tolerated by everyone else on the team, I couldn’t stand the thought that he was keeping secrets. We were his new team, and whether it was by choice or not, he plays with us now. He didn’t even tell his old team, and we all see how that worked out for them. Therefore, he can’t expect me to accept him into my family without being truthful.

“Kunimi-kun? Are you joining us?” Iwaizumi asked quietly.

“No thank you.” I grumbled just loud enough to be heard by the duo. I would hate nothing more than to see him again so soon.

Oikawa sighed sadly, running a hand through his hair in frustration as the door dinged open on Hinata’s floor, allowing them to leave me alone in the elevator. “You know Kunimi-chan, I thought you and Sho-chan were getting along; that you liked him? You had an excellent practice together, so what changed? I don’t understand why you threw him to the wolves back there.”

The doors slid closed, blocking my view of the duos disappointed backs. I clicked my tongue in annoyance, unsure why I was getting any backlash for what happened. Hinata was hiding something from the people who were important in his life and they obviously had nothing to do with and had no idea about what he was neglecting to tell anyone; the reason he left. I wasn’t going to let him tear us apart like he was doing to his old team.

_Fuck this whole situation. Fuck him. I need chicken nuggets._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Hey my cherubs!
> 
> *Slips chapter over to reader on table*
> 
> Don't hate me.
> 
> Question of the chapter:
> 
> What's everyone's favourite Haikyuu quote?
> 
> I literally have "Now you're just being vulgar" on my lightbox. But also can't skip on every time Bokuto says "Hey, hey, hey" or Akaashi's name.
> 
> So yeah, this took a long time and I'm sorry. I'm going to try harder to be more consistent for you guys. I hope you enjoy this chapter though!
> 
> Thank you for your support my dudes!
> 
> Love you guys!
> 
> Piece v(￣ｰ￣)v


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The doors slid closed, blocking my view of the duos disappointed backs. I clicked my tongue in annoyance, unsure why I was getting any backlash for what happened. Hinata was hiding something from the people who were important in his life and they obviously had nothing to do with and had no idea about what he was neglecting to tell anyone; the reason he left. I wasn't going to let him tear us apart like he was doing to his old team.
> 
> Fuck this whole situation. Fuck him. I need chicken nuggets.

(Hinata POV)

******THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS: PANIC ATTACK AND VAGUE MENTIONS OF PAST SEXUAL ABUSE.** **

****THIS IS A TRIGGER WARNING FOR THAT MAY BE TRIGGERED EASILY FOR THIS CHAPTER. I RECOMMEND THAT IF YOU DO GET TRIGGERED EASILY AND WISH TO CONTINUE THIS STORY TO SKIP TO THE INDICATED SPOT IN THE CHAPTER AND READ THE INDESCRIPT OVERVIEW THAT WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE AUTHOR NOTES.**** **

The cool air of the apartment building’s lobby did little to abate my heated skin despite the slick layer of sweat that covered it. My entire body shook quite drastically, intriguing a few worried eyes to observe as I entered the elevator. I was numbly able to push my floor number on the keypad, feeling grateful for the privacy the closing doors provided. My heartbeat was louder than the automated voice informing me of the direction the elevator would be travelling, and no amount of pressure that I could manage to place over my ears with my hands could lessen the thundering thumps. The far corner of the elevator offered little to no feeling of safety through the short journey to my floor. I could feel the prickles of non-existent stares tracing patterns over my neck and shoulders, despite my eyes acknowledging that I was alone and pressed into the intersection of two walls covering my back.

_Did they follow me? They found where I was._

As soon as the doors opened on my floor, I pushed myself out from my corner of the elevator and hurriedly took my exit, stumbling over my uncooperative limbs on my journey to my door. My mind struggled to keep up with the information overload it was struggling to process, forgoing details such as how my keys came to be in my hand. Shoving the key into the door with shaky hands and unlocking the door quickly, I rushed into the apartment and headed directly to my room. It was a habit I had begun displaying lately to avoid confrontation with my mother, one that was in affect even with a small part of my mind reminding me that mother was running errands with Natsu and wouldn’t be home. My arm automatically grasped at the door and swung it in the direction of the frame, yet my ears didn’t register the soft slam that I anticipated.

_“…don’t want a heartless monster…”_

A blink seemed to last the journey from the entrance to the apartment to under my small desk in my bedroom, bag separated from my body somehow; or there was a lapse in my memory. My knees were pressed to my forehead harshly as my hands clasped at my locks of hair painfully. I tried to uncurl myself from the position and retract my hands from their painful grasp on my hair, but my body refused to move, ignoring my increasingly desperate mental commands and causing my panic to rise exponentially. My mind was barely able to register the upsurge of my heartrate and breathing until a sickening dizziness swam through my head, causing my vision to increasingly darken around the edges.

_“Shoyo. It isn’t your fault son; it is that other boy’s fault. He put you up to this didn’t he? We will fix you up so that you aren’t a sinful monster anymore. Don’t worry my son.”_

The growing blackness was nauseating, causing my throat to burn with effort of keeping the contents of my stomach from exiting back through the entrance and my eyes to instinctively close tightly. Salty tears poured quite heavily down my face to my chin and lips, entering my mouth as it hung open in a silent scream, the muscles in my jaw locking into position. The occasional choked sob was the only sound I could manage to produce, and even they were soft due to my inability to take in sufficient amounts of oxygen nor control any muscles within my body voluntarily. A pathetic whimper managed to push past the tightening of my throat as my fear only escalated at the lack of control I had over my own body. The darkness surrounding my vision had grown, encompassing the entirety of my vision.

_”This is going to help you son.”_

_“Don’t be difficult for her Shoyo. She has agreed to do this to help you get back on track out of the kindness of her heart.”_

_“Nice to meet you Hinata-kun.”_

_“I suppose I get to call you Shoyo now? It makes sense since we are going to know each other like this, right?”_

_“Just relax Shoyo. Not like it’s going to hurt you or anything.”_

_“Stop fighting Shoyo. Your father said he’d restrain you if he had to, but that won’t be any fun for either of us. Just sit back and enjoy me like any man would.”_

_“I’ll see you next time Shoyo.”_

_“We are just doing this to help you son.”_

_“…Hinata?”_

_“Hey Hinata!”_

_“Shoyo, open your eyes Pup.”_

A large warm hand gently cupped my face, thumbs skimming over my cheeks to wipe away my tear streaks as they attempted to lift my head from their position upon my knees. Despite the tender nature of the gesture, my body flinched away from the touch, pressing myself further under the desk and into the wall, eliciting a small whimper from my chest. My ears picked up the faintest sounds of murmuring coming from the other person ( _persons?_ ) in the room. I willed my eyes to open and my head to lift, but my body disobeyed and remained still.

“Shoyo. Hey Pup, it’s me Toru.” A gentle voice spoke calmly into my ear. “Can you lift your head up for me Shoyo?”

_Why is father pretending to be someone else? Who is Toru?_

Another whimper escaped me as my body fought against the pressure of the wall in an effort to get further away from the voice, as well as to make myself look smaller and thus look weaker. More submissive. My hands moved to tightly cover my ears in hopes of escaping the imposing voice, pulling the small hairs that framed the back of my ear to pull my hands impossibly closer. The muffling my palms caused wasn’t enough to make me feel any calmer, no matter how much pressure I applied. Gentle yet slightly calloused hands stroked over my hands, almost as if to encourage them to loosen their forceful grasp over my ears.

_He is faking it! Either that or she is coming! He is only ever gentle before she came around!_

“Hey Pup, it’s alright now. You are safe. It’s just me and Hajime here.”

“Toru, this is saying you aren’t meant to touch someone during a panic attack without getting their permission first.” Another voice stated quietly, initiating the immediate removal of the hands from my own.

“Shit, shit, shit! Did I make it worse? Fuck!”

“Calm down. This isn’t the time for you to be dramatic. You need to focus on Shoyo. Be patient and keep talking to him. I’ll go get water and maybe some ice to suck on for when he is calmer.”

_I don’t know a Toru… Do I?_

I felt a shift in the air beside me, signalling the figure previously invading my protective bubble was shifting. The unintentional nudge of their feet against my own told me that the person had resituated themselves to be under the desk, sitting opposite my curled form, causing my legs to instinctively shuffle closer to make myself seem even smaller and retreat into my personal space. The presence of this person terrified me, causing me to anxiously await the pain filled touches that always seemed followed the gentleness and be oblivious of my rapidly increasing breathing.

“Shoyo, you are hyperventilating a bit. Can you breathe with me?”

_Who is this person?_

“I will count for us. Breathe in for 4… 3… 2… 1…”

_They seem familiar…_

“Hold that for 7 Pup… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…”

_Toru…_

“And release for 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…”

_Toru Oikawa?_

“Good job Shoyo, well done! Let’s do that again, alright?”

“…Toru?” I managed to push through my tightened throat, my lungs attempting to slow its expanding and constricting. My hands slightly lessened the pressure they forced upon my ears, and I felt my body lose a fair amount of built up tension I hadn’t realised it had accumulated. My mind become less clouded and allowed me to drag myself from my haunting memories. My mind reached toward Oikawa’s grounding voice as I tried to lift my head, but my neck remained entirely unresponsive.

“That’s right Pup. Good job. Keep breathing nice and slow like that. Do you need me to do anything for you?”

In the back of my mind I heard the frantic and nervous undertones that were woven through his voice, but it was calming enough to know I wasn’t alone as I began exiting my panicked haze. His inexperience didn’t matter to me. Just his presence and the reassurance that I wasn’t in the presence of those from my past nor trapped within my memories was enough.

“I d-don’t want b-be alo-one.” I managed to stutter out, reaching my hand in the general direction of where I believed Oikawa to be. “Don’t want g-go b-back.”

My cold hand connected to Oikawa’s larger hands, falling heavily into their awaiting grasp. One hand remained holding onto my outstretched hand, now tightly gripping to him in order to ground myself, whilst the other slowly slid up my arm and toward the back of my neck, moving gently and hesitantly, presumably to indicate where he was intending to touch next and ensure I was comfortable with it. The gentle massaging of my nape eased more tension from my body, melting my frozen muscles.

Shakily, and still quite unaware of what I was doing, I slowly dragged myself closer to Oikawa, finding more comfort in his touch now that I was more aware. I desired to be within the comfort of his arms, using him as a metaphorical shield against the bombardment of memories that threatened to overflow the chest they were locked within and drag me into another panic attack. I didn’t hear him protest as I slowly crawled atop him, uncaring about how comfortable it would be for either of us.

I managed to manoeuvre myself so that we were facing one another, chest to chest with my legs wrapping tightly around his toned torso. My arms were secured around his neck and my head was tucked between my bicep and his head, face squishing into his neck. His arms were wrapped around me securely, one hand remaining massaging my nape and the other holding around my waist. I felt him begin to shift, tightening his hold around my waist and slowly sliding out from under the desk. I began panicking once more which caused me to latch onto him further, my throat producing a weak whimper in protest to the thought of him leaving.

“Don’t worry Shoyo. I’m not leaving you. Just gonna move us to somewhere comfier okay?” Oikawa whispered quietly as he continued to shuffle out from under the desk. “How does the bed sound? Or would you prefer the couch?”

“Don’t m-move.” I whispered back, voice glitching as I hiccupped violently. “Will find us.”

“It’s just the two of us and Hajime here Pup.” He whispered back, his movements stilling for the moment, presumably waiting for me to calm down slightly and ensure that I was comfortable with moving. “You remember Hajime, don’t you? It’s just us three here, and we will protect you alright? We will keep you safe Pup.”

I hummed softly, loosening my tightened grasp somewhat, easily deciding to put my trust in Oikawa. “’M not a dog.” I mumbled just loud enough for Oikawa to hear as he continued his trek to my bed.

I felt a short burst of vibration release from Oikawa’s chest as he failed to supress the laughter that bubbled throughout his chest. He pulled himself fully out from underneath the desk and into a standing position before making his way to the bed, me still clinging to his torso as his arms gently cradled me in place. “No, you certainly aren’t a dog. You are cute as a puppy though. And the newest member of our family; so that is why I called you Pup. Is that okay with you?”

I hummed again half-heartedly as I nuzzled my nose further into his soft neck and inhaled his scent. He smelt like the beginning of a rainstorm; comparable to nature rejoicing the presence of water after a small drought by releasing a concoction of fragrances from various plants into the air, blending together into a beautiful aroma. It was truly intoxicating, and with every inhale I felt my muscles loosen further as my eyes grew too heavy to keep open. By the time Oikawa had found a comfortable spot perched atop my bed, his back in the corner where my headboard and wall meet perpendicularly, I was not unlike a ragdoll. The previous energy expenditure due to my panic attack completely drained my entire body of energy.

My sleep-ladened mind vaguely registered the door opening and an additional voice talking to my cuddle buddy quietly. I could differentiate between which was Oikawa due to the vibration of his chest and neck against my body. Oikawa’s promise of protection aided in the prevention of any panic that the additional person could’ve caused me, even if that person was Iwaizumi. Their words floated in one ear and out the other as I allowed my body to succumb to sleep, happily remaining in my claimed spot atop Oikawa’s lap, wrapped safely within his arms.

\----- ** **END OF POSSIBLY TRIGGERING CONTENT**** \-----

My eyes blinked open to the Suns harsh rays glaring down upon me. I reflexively squinted at the unexpected brightness, yet the harshness that typically coupled this type of sudden exposure didn’t hurt my eyes. I noticed my body was pleasantly numbed to all hurtful sensation as I pushed myself to a seated position, unknowingly pressing a palm into a small rock that stubbornly clung to my hand. Habitually brushing my hands of non-existent dirt, I took in the colourful array of flowers that littered the field of green that surrounded me. Behind me was an odd grove of trees, the leaves an odd turquoise colour and bark a pristine white in a partnership that seemed familiar to me. In front of me stood a hill of yellowing grass. Looking at the dead looking hill caused my skin to crawl and fear grasp around my throat, causing the pleasant numbing to fade away.

I tore my eyes from the fearful place, made more unnerving by the darkened clouds atop it as opposed to the clear skies above the field and grove, and took in the flowers that encircled me. I previously would’ve assumed this amount of variation in colours and species of flowers to look messy and overwhelming, yet the crazy mix was surprisingly calming. Deeply inhaling the concoction of scents the flowers produced helped my body to relax impossibly further as the Sun warmed me perfectly and the wind fingered through my hair gently. It smelt as though it was raining, yet the ground remained dry and the sky forbade the presence of any clouds.

Shifting my eyes in the direction of the cluster of trees, I was rewarded with the sight of a dog staring at me with a curious tilt to its head. Its chocolate brown fur looked fluffy and wavy and its beautiful brown eyes were locked onto my form in a knowing stare, as if it knew all of secrets. It stood from its seated position and circled my seated figure, nudging its head against me gently, before it settled underneath my right arm. A surprisingly warm yet wet nose greeted my cheek, followed by a tentative pink tongue that seemed to stick to my skin. I let out a giggle as I reached my hand up to its head, scratching behind its ears softly.

It was a truly beautiful creature.

Our enjoyable bonding moment was cut shorter than I’d have preferred by a loud growling. My head snapped up from its stare of admiration of the dog beside me to see a pitch-black beast upon the deadened hill. Fear tightened my throat once more as I took in the size of the dog that stared intensely at us. Despite the distance between us, the low growling of the beast was loud enough that it seem as though its mouth was right beside my ear. Its aura was the complete opposite of the dog that rested beside me, lovingly pressed into my side.

A small bark and head boop tore my attention away from the intruding figure upon the hill, dragging my eyes to the beautiful creature beside me. The instant my eyes left the hill the figurative hold on my throat released and my body was lulled back into a relaxed state. The dog beside me nudged my side again, somehow causing me to understand that it wanted me to stand from my position nestled amongst the flowers. A gentle nudge to the back of my legs pushed me to begin walking in the direction of the grove of odd trees. The dog walked beside me, barking and whining happily, drowning out the terrifying sounds from the black beast.

I went to turn my head to glance behind me to ensure the beast wasn’t following us, but the gorgeous creature beside me nudged into me more harshly than it had previously as if to scold me. Its eyes locked onto mine, silently willing me to trust it and keep my own eyes on it. It proceeded to trot ahead of me slightly, but its eyes never left my own.

The journey to the trees was much faster than I expected, and by that point the beast’s growling was a mere whisper in the passing wind. I reached out my hand to the nearest tree, fingers tracing the detailing in the white bark as I stepped into the boundary of the grove, the whisper fading into silence. I followed the dog through the maze of trees, the warmth of the Sun remaining despite the shade the canopy provided. It was only a small distance into the cluster of trees that the dog stopped leading the way, calling out into the small clearing happily as it danced between my legs.

The small space we had stopped within suddenly became full of dogs, all beautiful in their own way. My new friend was greeted by a rather serious looking black dog, yet that was the only resemblance to the beast that stayed forgotten upon the hill. The black dog playfully snapped and nipped at the brown dog as it jumped excitedly upon its back.

I smiled at my friend’s antics as I sat back down in the middle of the clearing. It took mere seconds before I was surrounded by the pack, each dog taking the time to greet me in their own, unique way. I laid down after being greeted, followed quite quickly by a cluster of bodies curling around me, some close enough to touch yet far enough away to give me some space while others rested a head or paw upon one of my limbs. I blinked lazily, eyes looking up at the canopy the odd trees created, feeling an overwhelming sense of safety and comfort in being surrounded by the pack.

The last thing I saw before my lids closed was my beautiful brown friend. Its face was above my own as it stared down at me before gently stepping onto my chest and laying down. Despite the size of the dog, its presence on my chest didn’t affect my breathing or cause any discomfort of being squashed. Its body lay flat against my own as its head found a resting place in the crook of my shoulder, my hands automatically threading their way into its soft fur.

\-----

It was as if my eyes were glued shut when I awoke from my slumber, my other senses reopening quite easily to the world of the living. I could feel fluffy softness under my hands and lightly tickling my forehead, soft and warm skin tickling my nose as my body moved with each rise and fall of the chest beneath me. Soft movement of air sounded close to my ear as words, which I couldn’t quite comprehend completely due to my sleep addled brain trying to process the sudden information overload, were mumbled and the rumbling of the chest that remained connected to my own matched with only some of the mumbles I could hear.

Unable to fight the urge to move my sleepy limbs and stretch them from their frozen position, I began straightening my arms and shifting my legs, removing my hands from Oikawa’s head of fluff as to not yank a fistful of softness out and gift him with a bald spot. My nose unintentionally nuzzled further into his warm neck, drinking in the intoxicating smell that could easily lull me back into dreamland. Only when chuckling could be heard did I force my eyes to flutter open and will my neck to remove my head from its comfortable position firmly in the crook of Oikawa’s neck.

“Hey Pup! Have a good sleep?”

“Huh? What did you call him Shittykawa?”

I blinked owlishly around the room, making a loose fist and rubbing sleep and light sensitive tears from my eyes. I grunted quietly before deciding that it was a terrible idea to have moved and burying my head into Oikawa’s neck once more.

“See? You can’t tell me he isn’t the cutest puppy you have ever seen!”

“Jesus Christ…”

“Shoyo~.” Oikawa whispered, causing me to turn my head away to escape the tickle of his breath against my ear from his close proximity. A sleepy grunt pushed through my chest as I settled back into a position facing away from the warmth of the lovely smelling neck. “You have been asleep for about half an hour Pup. No one has come home yet either, and we aren’t too keen on leaving you here by yourself for the night, so how about you have a sleepover at my house with me and Iwa-chan? We can play some games like Just Dance, but I hope you are prepared to lose because I am _really_ good.”

A small giggle managed to escape past my lips as I sleepily pushed myself up from Oikawa’s chest to look him in the face with a cheeky smirk. “You wish senpai. I am practically a God at Just Dance.”

Oikawa grinned at that before practically throwing me off of him toward the foot of my bed, eliciting a loud squawk of mock distress from me. Excitedly, he began to frantically run about my room, talking much too fast to comprehend about everything and nothing at the same time. He hunted through my drawers for my uniform, forgetting that I would know where it is kept, considering we had school tomorrow. Iwaizumi sighed quietly to himself before he resituated himself onto the bed, perching next to where I was sprawled dramatically.

“I hope you are feeling better little man.” He said only just loudly enough to be heard over Oikawa’s mindless chatter. “We just want you to know that we are here for you and if you want to talk about what happened, we can definitely lend you an ear alright? We don’t want to push you or anything though, so please just do what you are comfortable with.”

A small smile graced my face as I nodded, before hesitantly wrapping my arms around him and pulling into a tight hug. He didn’t hesitate to return it, his strong arms easily wrapping around my smaller body. It was grounding to receive physical affection from Iwaizumi and Oikawa, considering it was non-existent from my family members. At least the loving kind of affection. I let go, my smile turning more lacklustre at the thought of my family, remembering a time before my relationship with them turned strained. I proceeded to push those thoughts to the pits of my mind as Iwaizumi and I laughed at Oikawa’s failing mission of packing, along with his embarrassed pout when I easily retrieved it for him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> I look pretty good for a dead bitch.
> 
> She's alive!
> 
> Hello all! I have indeed returned to give you a dose "insanity-that-I-have-no-idea-why-I-am-making-this-upsetting". 
> 
> For all my dude and dudettes (and all those in-between) who require a quick run down of the beginning of the chapter, here we gooooo:
> 
> Hinata has panic attack. Oikawa and Iwaizumi find Hinata during panic attack. Hinata lost in memories cannot figure out anything. Oikawa manages to calm Hinata. Hinata falls asleep cuddling Oikawa.
> 
> Question of the chapter:
> 
> Do you guys have any questions for me?
> 
> I'm running out of questions to ask, so as long as it doesn't give stalker vibes or give away the plot I will answer any questions y'all have!
> 
> Until next time cherubs!
> 
> Piece v(￣ｰ￣)v
> 
> P.s. I love reading your comments. They make me cry, either from laughing too hard or dying of how nice you guys are!
> 
> P.s.s. I'm glad y'all related to the chicken nuggets last chapter. I was very hungry when I was writing that.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small smile graced my face as I nodded, before hesitantly wrapping my arms around him and pulling into a tight hug. He didn't hesitate to return it, his strong arms easily wrapping around my smaller body. It was grounding to receive physical affection from Iwaizumi and Oikawa, considering it was non-existent from my family members. At least the loving kind of affection. I let go, my smile turning more lacklustre at the thought of my family, remembering a time before my relationship with them turned strained. I proceeded to push those thoughts to the pits of my mind as Iwaizumi and I laughed at Oikawa's failing mission of packing, along with his embarrassed pout when I easily retrieved it for him.

(Oikawa POV)

A hefty exhale of breath unintentionally pushed past my lips the moment I was finally able to remove the absurdly heavy bags that hung from my shoulders since leaving Hinata’s residence. The beginning of the journey held a promise that the bags were light enough to cause no problems, but each minute seemed to add an extra pound to each bag, causing the straps to dig further into my tender shoulders. I was unable to show any outward discomfort in fear of causing Hinata to feel responsible, so the constant need to adjust the straps had tested my pain tolerance meticulously. My determination in preventing Hinata from carrying the heavier of his two bags he opted to bring along lent me the strength to successfully complete the trip.

The bag I carried for Hinata was filled to the brim with clothing and the oddities that would be required for a successful sleepover whilst the backpack perched on Hinata’s back was stuffed with his school supplies for tomorrow. He was still not a hundred percent steady on his feet, his muscles most likely feeling fatigued from an unfriendly concoction of a difficult training session and his recent panic attack. His unsteadiness was the reason I had offered to carry his bag in the first place, worried that the additional weight that would cause him more difficulties on his feet. I had offered to shoulder the burden of both of his bags, however he relentlessly fought to carry at least one, opting to allow me to carry the heavier as compensation.

I slid my key from where it sat in the lock of my front door, having already entered my abode and deposited the bags in the entranceway. Exchanging my outside shoes for my house slippers caused a small, content sigh to be released. The comfort changing my shoes brought my tired legs and feet was immense, topped with the light and floaty feeling that glided through my shoulders and the warm feeling of being home.

The three of us stood in the entrance area of the house, cut off from the rest of the house by a half wall that came up to my chest. Attached was an open living concept that housed the living and dining rooms, as well as the kitchen. The lounge housed a small, cream two-seat couch with a matching armchair, with a rectangular coffee table separating the seats from the television. A small bookcase held a few books on its top shelves while the bottom shelves were reserved for small trinkets and photo frames. The dining table sat directly behind the half wall, with six simple seats spread evenly around it’s rectangular shape. The kitchen benches were mostly cleared, with a kettle and rice maker the only appliances able to be seen. It was simplistic, but enough for it’s two occupants.

“I’ll get you some guest slippers pup.” I said, turning to face said boy after Iwaizumi shimmied past me, heart set on the armchair that was dubbed his. I caught the tail end of curiosity displayed upon Hinata’s face as his eyes swept the room.

I gestured Hinata to the unoccupied couch, lifting the bags so to store them within my bedroom. Moving with practiced ease, despite the dull ache that inhabited my body thanks to training this morning, I made my way through the house to the linen closet once the bags were safely resting within my rooms confines. I retrieved a pair of guest slippers for Hinata to don, mentally putting ‘find a more appropriate place for guest slippers that is closer to the front door’ on a to-do list.

Both Iwaizumi and Hinata were sat similarly with their feet tucked up onto the cushion beside them upon my return. Lowering myself onto the cushions on the other end of the couch with no real care, I held the guest slippers for Hinata to grab, which he tenderly did with a small ‘thank you senpai’. The inclusion of senpai on the end of his sentence was almost lost in the space between us, but my sensitive ears picked up the sound within the silence. I decided to pretend for the honorific to have not been heard to save us both embarrassment by my hand, however my cheeks heated up a fraction against my will.

A silence rested upon the three of us for a few moments, allowing me time to properly work through the thoughts that had plagued my mind since the encounter with the Karasuno trio earlier in the day. I couldn’t help but feel guilty about the events that had transpired through the day, even after reminding myself that I was not at fault. ‘What if’s ran through my head as I pondered over what I could’ve done better. What if I hadn’t gone to Hinata’s apartment in an attempt to ensure he was alright? What if I hadn’t gotten there when I did? What if Iwaizumi didn’t agree to go with me? I would have been completely useless without Iwaizumi’s calm and rational side there to instruct me on what to do. Thank fuck things didn’t turn into the worst possible situation; I didn’t even want to know what that would’ve entailed.

Obviously, the situation could’ve been improved upon on my behalf, specifically during the confrontation of the Karasuno players which I found myself regretting my somewhat inaction immediately after the fact as I made my way to Hinata’s apartment. I felt completely useless, both at stopping to onslaught directed toward Hinata and his panic attack afterward. However, so long as I can prevent myself from allowing myself to perform the same mistakes twice, things will be okay. I cannot go back in time, but I can learn from my mistakes for the future.

My eyes refocused into reality as opposed to the replays of the day that my brain provided, rejoicing on the inside at the colour that lit Hinata’s face once again. The sickly pale he sported throughout his panic attack, as well as for some time after, was replaced with a healthier, rosy glow. His eyes were more alive, coloured in a beautiful kaleidoscope of browns and oranges that I had never noticed before. I found myself drowning in the beauty of his eyes, noting the obvious warmth that brightened them further, as well as… confusion… and they were staring straight back at me?

“Oikawa-senpai?” Hinata’s voice stage whispered. My ears picked the tell-tale snort of Iwaizumi in the background, his eyes locked onto Hinata and I whilst his phone lay forgotten in his hand. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

I felt my cheeks heat intensely at his statement, now fully aware of the awkwardness that is Oikawa Toru. My hands were still tightly attached to the guest slippers that Hinata was trying to graciously accept. My face was close enough to Hinata’s face that I could map out the tiny sunspots that littered his nose and cheeks subtly, and my eyes held the revelatory dryness that they had been held upon for too long. I didn’t know how long I had held this awkward position, nor when I had ended up almost nose to nose with the smaller boy. What I did know, however, was that I had to think of an excuse for my inelegance, and fast.

I quickly jolted back with an embarrassed cough, letting go of the slippers finally and backing up until my back connected with the arm rest. “I was just thinking about how you looked like you were doing a lot better and how I promised to show you who the true king of Just Dance is.”

The half truth seemed to appease Hinata, if the grin he was suddenly sporting was anything to go by. “Bring it on old man.”

\-----

A small (read: huge) pout found its way onto my face not so long after the first dance battle and seemed to have taken up permanent residence there. Hinata was much better than I had initially anticipated. Not in the traditional sense of dance ability though; he was simply good at tricking the technology into thinking he was a professional dancer instead of a high school volleyball player. Each battle ended with me covered in a thin layer of sweat whilst Hinata, and Iwaizumi for that matter, barely had a spot of dampness on them.

“I think this was an inaccurate representation of our relative abilities.” I sulked loudly as I returned from the front door with our delivered pizzas. It was a surprisingly western choice for dinner from Iwaizumi that Hinata seemed to be rather excited to try. I found myself unable to resist against Hinata’s puppy dog eyes when I tried to convince them to get sushi for dinner instead.

Iwaizumi snorted as he reached forward and retrieved a slice of dinner, handing one to Hinata upon returning to his seat. “You are just upset because you lost every round after you declared that you were the best. It’s not our fault you suck.”

Hinata tried to hide the explosion of giggles that erupted from his chest, but it simply sprayed past his closed lips. Unfortunately for Hinata’s dignity, not that Iwaizumi and I are judging at all considering the embarrassing things we have performed in each other’s company throughout our years together, lost some of his dinner during his unconcealable spray of laughter. His face turned a deep red as he flushed with humiliation, heating further at the amused looks on our faces.

“Don’t worry Hinata.” Iwaizumi chuckled quietly as Hinata hurried to clean up the mess, taking a bite of his own dinner. “Can’t be as embarrassing as losing as hard as Shittykawa after practically declaring Just Dance war. And it’s even worse when you find out how often he practices; he has spent at least three hours a week on that game since we were about six or seven.”

I clutched my heart, feigning distress, as my face morphed from amusement to betrayal. “Iwa-chan! I’ve told you before that it helps keep my fitness and training in line on my days off and not because I need to practice! Besides, at least I actually do the proper moves and not just wave my arm randomly! I am obviously superior at it, no matter what you or the computer says!”

“If you were so superior, why didn’t you win any of the matches Loserkawa? You didn’t even win by sheer luck once, which means you suck.”

I decided not to grace Iwaizumi with a response, instead grumbling under my breath in protest at being called out like that. I grumpily tore a bite of my pizza, sneaking a quick glance at Hinata. I was immensely glad at how he was looking much happier and healthier than earlier in the day, and hopefully we were able to relieve his mind from the stressors of the day. The difference was night and day. He now embodied the sun once again, shining so brightly with happiness.

“Are you going to be staying the night as well Iwaizumi-senpai?” Hinata asked innocently in an attempt to put a stop to the insults, eyes turning questioningly to aforementioned teen.

I chuckled quietly to myself, flicking my gaze over to a confused Iwaizumi. “Where else would I be sleeping tonight Hinata-kun?”

“Oh, I-I’m sorry Iwaizumi-senpai! I didn’t mean to imply that you weren’t wanted here or anything…”

“Don’t worry so much pup.” I intervened, not wanting the kid to panic any more today. “What he means is that this is where Iwa-chan sleeps every night. He lives here.”

Hinata paused his eating, allowing the information to sink into his brain properly. “You both live here? Then why did you refer to it as your house Oikawa-senpai? And where do your parents stay? This house is big but-“

I chuckled quietly once again. “Well, my parents own this house, but they had to move to Tokyo for work when I was in the middle of my second year at Aobajohsai. I didn’t want to change schools, so they kept this house for me to stay year-round and for my family to return to during any holidays they may have. Iwa-chan says here during school terms to keep me company, because he loves me, and because his family house is quite a way away. He used to have to travel for about an hour to get to school, and our families figured since I have so much room all to myself majority of the year, he could just stay with me.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” He turned from me, quickly bowing to Iwaizumi. “I’m sorry for implying that you weren’t allowed to stay in your own home senpai!”

“Don’t worry about it Hinata-kun. Not like you had any malicious intent behind it, nor did you actually know that I lived here.”

Silence fell over the group as we all returned to our dinners. I remember the day Iwaizumi moved in like it was yesterday as it was simultaneously one of the best and worst days of my short life, moving in with my best friend whilst losing the constant contact with my family.

The day he had to moved that far away was also engrained in my brain. His parents had just gotten a divorce after his mother had found her husband in bed with another woman and, wanting nothing to do with him, opted to move out immediately with Iwaizumi and his younger brother. He told me what had happened the next time we had seen each other and asked me to keep it a secret and not tell a soul, and I had kept my lips tightly sealed from that day on.

Just looking at my dearest friend could shock my system into recalling just how blessed I was to have had him in my life this far. He was one constant I knew I could count on, both on and off the court. On my bad days I often found myself wondering how I got to be so lucky as to have someone like him by my side through our lives, and how he was cursed with being stuck with me. Yet I am always reminded right after these thoughts infect mind that he is more than capable of leaving, so I probably can’t be that bad.

“Senpai?” Hinata voice suddenly, drawing both Iwaizumi and my eyes to him. “What does malicious mean?”

\-----

My sleep infested mind nagged my body into a state of consciousness at the detection of a near full bladder becoming desperate with the need to be emptied. My eyes, with plenty of effort that I didn’t necessarily possess the energy to overcome at this time in the morning, tore through the sleep that glued them shut. Blinking in hopes of ridding myself of the foggy holds of sleep I sorely wished I could once again succumb to, my eyes merely adjusted to the darkness that filled my room. The incessant spasming of my bladder reminded me of the reason I was awake. The threatening promise of a filthy mess that morning Oikawa would be required to clean convinced me to exit the warmth and comfort of my bed.

My body quickly rejected being thrust into the cruel cold and brightness of the tiled bathroom, shivering slightly as I relieved myself. Only after finishing my business and washing my hands like the civilised person I was, did my sleep addled brain register the faint glow emanating from the lounge room where Hinata was located for the night. Consequent to entering the lounge area, I was greeted with Hinata’s silhouette, lit by the light of his phone screen as he thumbed through whatever content he was engrossed in.

“Sho-chan?” I yawned, nearly missing the frightened jolt that shook the boy’s figure. “Do you have any idea what the time is pup? What are you doing up?”

Hinata slowly turned to face me, his featured hidden in the shadow that was cast on his face from the backlighting of his phone. I was unable to decipher any emotion that may have been presented on his face, but the tension that ran along his shoulders caused my slowly fleeting sleepiness to be quickly pushed to the back of my mind. I cautiously stepped toward him, moving slowly as to ascertain his comfort levels in response to my approach and ensure that my presence didn’t cause him any anxiety.

“I just had a dream senpai.” He spoke quietly, turning his back to face his phone as I continued my journey closer. “This is what time I typically wake up anyway. You don’t have to worry about me. Go back to sleep.”

I was now close enough to be able to read the time on his phone, which was opened to a text conversation that was worryingly one-sided that I respectfully prevented myself from reading. “Two in the morning is not a very good time to be waking up on a regular basis pup. You’ve barely gotten three hours sleep. Even though we don’t have any training tomorrow, you have school that you need to have a clear head for. That and maintaining a good sleep schedule will really help you perform and improve your volleyball skills.”

Hinata’s face turned up to look at mine. His face was controlled, and his eyes were carefully void of any and all emotion. Looking into Hinata’s eyes in that moment made time slow down. The emptiness was a vast contrast to any of his emotions displayed throughout the day; both good and bad. Staring into his hazel eyes made me want to simply wrap him in my arms and protect him from the evils of the world. It was as if he had disconnected himself from reality, and I wanted to know whatever had hurt him to this point of dissociation this far from his emotions so I could respectfully break it’s legs. Whatever it was deserved to be set ablaze in the fiery pits of hell, and I wanted to personally send it on its way,

“Come on pup.” I whisper sensitively as I reached for his hand. “You can sleep with me in my room and I’ll keep you safe.”

Hinata numbly stared at my offered hand for a moment before resigning to his fate of being in my company until the sun rose, whether it be reluctantly or otherwise. Switching his phone off, shoving us both into the surrounding darkness, he grasped my hand with his surprisingly cold hand that was not occupied with his phone and blindly allowed me to lead him to my room.

He silently clambered into my quickly cooling bed, still slightly warm from my residual body heat, and shuffled to the side furthest from the door. I carefully scooted under the duvet next to his smaller body once I had closed the door, allowing him space if he so desired it. The last thing I wanted to do was crowd him.

As it turned out, he did not want the space I provided him. Once I had made myself comfortable, I felt a shift of my mattress as Hinata shuffled over, closing the gap between us. He hesitantly placed his head upon my chest, burying himself in all the warmth and comfort I could physically provide. My arms instinctively wrapped around his smaller frame, bundling him closer in a protective manner. My closer arm was resting along his back with my hand softly placed upon his upper hip, whilst my other arm wrapped around his shoulders, my hand ending up gently brushing through his wild hair comfortingly.

“Do you want to talk about your dream?” I asked quietly after a few minutes of laying with him buried within my embrace, his own hands grasping at my nightshirt in front of his chest. A beat of silence passed, leading me to believe he had fallen back into a slumber, before a small voice broke through the quiet of the night.

“Not yet.”

And if my chest, where his face had come to rest, became spotted with a few drops of a salty wetness, I said nothing about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Slides new chapter across table to readers before yeeting self back into bed.
> 
> I'm sorry for leaving you cherubs hanging for so long. I haven't been in the best headspace for a while now and it was making it difficult to do anything, let alone write. However! I do hope you like this chapter! It is a bit more fluffy than a lot of my other chapters but, once I got it started, I actually really enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Also I have started a Tumblr page for you to come talk to me on if you would like. Feel free to come and chat with me about anything and everything!
> 
> Tumblr URL: https://captainlevis14.tumblr.com/ (I dunno if that worked)
> 
> I look forward to talking with you guys more my cherubs!
> 
> Piece v(￣ｰ￣)v


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